test post

here is where the info goes

Thats got to hurt

Colin's capers part 1

back from beyond

I'm home, stay tuned for some silly snaps of America!

Yo! We've taken delivery of our shiny new macbooks and are fit to burst with excitement...just holding out for the webcams now and we'll be all set for our upcoming technology fairs!

looney uni

Claire and I started university today in (not so) sunny Pontypridd. After an interesting introduction to 'communities' we were treated to a 2hr lecture on computer technology pioneered in the late 90's...Then after I woke up we went home. Only kidding, the fact that the course is delivered primarily online is wicked, I just wish they had given us an account to log in with so we could have participated. Tomorrow is enrolment and Thursday we're going on a trip, I just need to get my mum to sign the consent form!


I'm hoping to complete the full 3years of the course if they let me, but I'm not too sure about the hat?!

Banwen have skipped autumn

Mae hi'n oer iawn! Its blinkin' freezing up here in sunny Banwen but lunchtime is approaching so a nice cup of tea should help with the whole internal central heating...

Tuesdays and Tairgwaith

Its gloomy outside as storm clouds draw in but the weather hasn't affected the mood here up the mountain...We met a lovely lady and offered some advice regarding purchasing a new digital camera.After making sense of megapixels and downplaying digital zoom she left happy but probably bamboozled!
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

Poor mother nature

We're back on the road in work with a whole lotta travelling across South Wales coming up...I need to plant a few trees to compensate for my ever increasing carbon footprint...

the return of the rain

Today we immersed ourselves in creating some resources to help people to use blogs, before roadtesting the finished articles up in Brynamman with an extremely enthused Peri from 'mess up the mess'. The weather is poor and I have a horrible feeling that we have skipped the autumn and are just going to dive on into winter from now...but I'm not worried as my swanky DCN jacket and hoody arrived today. If anyone needs any promotional merchandise made I can reccomend the firm we used, I'll post up a link once I'm sure of the name. Top service, and a rapid turnaround, only 7 weeks if you use their express delivery service! This does cost a little bit extra but if you can't stretch to the express service and you order today you should still probably receive some of your order within 52 weeks I would imagine...

bleurgh

I have been attacked by an RNA Virus and am feeling poorly and sorry for myself...here is a picture of the wee blighters that are ravaging my immune system as I type.

My life in calendars

Today we wrote down all the things that will keep me busy in work and out of trouble until Christmas...Its weird seeing your life mapped out for you, day by day for what seems like an eternity.

washed up weekends and sleepless sundays

I think I need a couple of days rest after the weekend. I'm feeling my age these days (its kind of squishy...ha!sorry, I digress) but I haven't been partying hard, heck I haven't even partied. I think my great Aunt has run me ragged. only 7 & 1/2hrs til I'm up and off for work again, I think its going to be a monday brought to you by the ingredient caffiene (that one is for all the sesame street viewers out there in cyberspace).

befuddled brains before lunch

Another day, another mindmap! I feel like a philosopher with all this thinking going on. I've reached the conclusion that funding (or more to the point, funding applications), although completely necessary, are a remedy for brain befuddling and should be avoided whenever possible.

Richard of York gave battle in vain.

Today has mostly been brightly coloured mind maps (brainstorming is no longer PC). I have also consumed my bodyweight in tea and coffee, I hope my kidneys are forgiving in later life...

London calling

Anyone a fan of the clash?I'm posting this whilst I'm waiting for kerry's dad in the nation's capital.its tricky business though,as I have to keep one step ahead of the legions of jumped up jobsworths issuing tickets. Perhaps if they didn't charge a pound for every 15 minutes they wouldn't have to keep chasing me...

Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device



ps. I found me a banksy by the river thames, unfortunately the block was too heavy to bring home for ebaying so I will remain poor for now.

down in the ditch

I just had to help a lady rescue her campervan from the ditch she had reversed it into down the gower!

tuesday toodlings

I trust you all had a bonza bank holiday, if you ask me people in banks are overworked and should have more than just the 4 odd days a year off...We were messing up the mess in Brynamman today and setting the world to rights en route.

blogging blues

I'm neglecting the old blog of late, but to compensate to blogger we have set up 50 bazillion new blogs with community groups recently, so google won't be mad for long. I'll try my best to make more of an effort here as I know you all hang on my every word...ha!

Do you know your rss from your elbow?

check out this nifty website here, and bring yourselves up to speed with the whole web 2.0 jargon everyone is throwing around these days. Stuff like this will make sure you appear really 'fresh' and 'phat' in the eyes of the younger generation, you will seem well 'down wiv da yoof' innit?!

This is the funniest thing I've seen this year...

busy busy busy

Since we geeked out and discovered how to sync up the blackberries with our Google calendars it seems like every minute of my life is accounted for...However, I did manage to find time to congratulate Lisa on passing her test! And being the considerate chap that I am I volunteered to test her reactions (without her knowing) and jumped out in front of her car as she was leaving the other day...

We have spent the last 2 days up in sunny Tairgwaith with a group of teenagers helping them to create a blog for their businesses. Won't be long before the links are up, I just have to do a quick check for any 'muckmouths' before I post them here...

Back to reality

Monday was a blur of activity with meetings left right and centre. The afternoon meant a trip down to the wild west (Ammanford) with the communities first team there, to discuss a project for the summer. That seems to be well on its way (Ha! famous last words) and on my way back to the car I met an awesome little chap who goes by the name of Patch! I managed to get him to stay still for almost a whole 5 seconds in order to immortalize our meeting in photographic form...



Tuesday we were joined by Roger, who is a long standing PCSurgery volunteer and is currently gaining some work experience with us and the technicians. We were up in Glynneath first thing where we caught up with one half of the elusive 'Bloggers too' before heading up the mountain to see Lesley in DOVE Workshop. The rest of the day was mostly planning (with a sprinkle of lunch thrown into the mix...) and the odd practical joke!

The deathly Hallows

I've just finished the book. I think I need some time off work to recover.

I wish I wasn't a muggle

Ok, I'm over half way through the latest and final Harry Potter book. There has already been tears and laughter, I'm not sure I'm prepared for the emotional rollercoaster that lies ahead...

Roll on midnight!

I think I'm going to have to give the internet a wide berth until I've read this new book because there are already spoilers appearing online...

Time flies

Its been another hectic week in the world of digital inclusion and by 3 o'clock today I think we were all a little frazzled.I'm just about to enjoy a cup of tea and zone out for an hour before we head out in search of the new Harry potter book...

Friday 13th and fish and chips

We are upstairs in AVE Ammanford engaging left right and centre with prospective pop in people, and being entertained by Lyndsey the PCSurgery volunteer. The theme today is Fish and chips friday where the people signing up for courses are treated to lunch! I'm about to email Karen as the clock is fast approaching 12 and there isn't a whiff of fried fancies yet...

Listen to more Dave House

Once again its approaching midnight and I'm delaying the onset of sleep with a post for the blogosphere and all who sail in it. I have been slightly under par this week and if i'm really honest I was struggling this afternoon but just when I thought the hamster in my head had given up on the wheel my friend Cameron came in and cheered me up no end. He had come straight from school where they had been treated to a 'Pirates and Princesses' fancy dress day! He had chosen to dress as a pirate (which I think was a wise choice, kids can be so cruel...) and it was a wicked costume!

I am hoping that Anthony will share my enthusiasm for the high seas and introduce a pirate themed fancy dress day in the ARC, maybe even make it a regular thing. Now I know that some of my more sophisticated readers are probably scoffing at the thought of fancy dress in the workplace, but before you write off the idea just give the possibilities some consideration. Imagine how much more fun work could be if once a month your boss came in dressed as a hobbit! Or that grumpy bloke from the office who talks in spreadsheets was still grumpy but in a scooby doo outfit?

Now I know that on occasion some managers from various workplaces stumble across this humble blog, so here is a golden opportunity to pioneer a revolution in your workplace! I think the whole environment would have a little lift and we'd break down some of the 'us and them' issues that we all encounter. stupidity equals unity! Maybe I will just start coming in dressed up and hope it catches on...

P.S. I'm listening to mr Dave House and you could do a lot worse than treat your ears to some of the same!

Action at the action resource centre

Its 3 minutes past the witching hour and I'm sitting in my house wasting my last few atoms of energy blogging about the fact that I'm worn out! I had a busy morning in our pop in session at the Arc with some familiar faces dropping by with a new gadget to play with. After plugging in and firing it up I spent an hour or so scanning in a wealth of amazing old family pictures belonging to one of our regulars, and Cyril brought up an amazing piece of wartime history that he acquired whilst posted in Egypt in 1947!

Then it was off to Camera club where we were stood up by the kids, and then as everyone else was heading home a gang of us from the ARC made our way through the rush hour traffic to a scout hall in Brynmill for a child protection course. The course would have been fine had it not been for the fact that we were all knackered after work and the scout hall was in excess of 30degrees centigrade inside! Sunny Tairgwaith tomorrow

'This town is coming like a ghost town'

I found myself whistling along to the Specials this morning when I arrived in an eerily quiet Glynneath Training Centre, but the piece and quiet was shattered by an exubarent Michael, who was busy preparing for the open day tomorrow.

After shifting a few tables around Mike dashed off up the mountain to DOVE and I prepared myself for a people-less pop in...But before I even managed to unpack my laptop a customer appeared and I spent the next half hour helping Mrs.Davies create a digital slideshow of her recent pilgrimage to Paris and Twickenham to watch the kings of 'Parent Rock' Genesis.
Then it was dilemmas with digital cameras and meetings with Malcolm where I managed to agree to a load of work thats going to give my timesheets a panic attack. Maybe I'll delegate it, if only I had some one to delegate it too...

Buffets, Banwen and beyond the DCN

Today found the Digital Community Network partners all brought together in sunny Banwen for a strategic meeting regarding our plans for world domination....(just like ol' pinky and the brain!)

Well, actually it was to discuss the future of the project and how we can improve the service that we currently provide but it all amounts to the same end result...ha!

A lot was discussed and ideas were thrown about the table before we were treated to a lunch that resembled what I would imagine Julius Caeser was accustomed to, so top marks to the hard working staff at Cafe Sarn Helen. Stay tuned for details of the masterplan. . .

Blackberry blogging

Thanks to Mr.Grey and his exceptional negotiating skills I am able to post this from my shiny new smartphone!
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

All's quiet on the glynneath front

I will have to make this a very quick post as I am using a computer that I am guessing by the speed of it is powered by hamsters. Its being unusually quiet here this morning but we've had our friends from the horticultural society in to keep us on our toes!

If the rain manages to hold off this afternoon we'll be back up the A465 to get the Resolven youths working on their documentary, but by the look of the skies they'll be busy building an arc and rounding up animals...

My Kingdom for a blackberry

I feel that my blog is suffering as a direct consequence of not having a nifty internet capable phone...

I'm still going

Tuesday - Glynneath was fit to burst this morning and I think between myself and Claire we managed to cover the full spectrum of technology troubles and squeeze a monitoring visit in too! The afternoon was spent catching up on admin (snoozeville!) and inspecting second lieutenant Grey's ongoing improvements to the ARC!

Monday - We had our DCN meeting in the morning which was very kindly hosted by Lesley and Julie in the DOVE Workshop. It was a productive meeting (you can always tell because you seem to leave with 20 new meetings to attend as a result of it) and we'll be spending some time developing exit strategies...

Friday - After popping in to AVE Ammanford and discussing the pro's and cons of laptops with Albert we started working on Karen's digital story, and I think we may all see a different side to the dynamic Dowley once its finished...Keep your eyes peeled!

Then it was back to Swansea for a special screening of Portmead's anniversary concert in the school itself! If I'm being brutally honest I really wasn't bursting with excitement with the prospect of watching the play for the 47th time, but the addition of everyone in the juniors made it an absolute hoot!


Following the movie, it was down the road to the ARC for a meeting with Mr. Brito before hometime!

With wednesday comes the rain

I returned recharged after a day off to the ARC where our pop in session saw us covering a whole range of digital dilemmas, I was busy juggling JPEGS with Cyril whilst Claire was seeking solutions for Catherine's safari snaps, and then I was cracking codes with Simon to help him pimp his myspace profile page - stay tuned for the link and then add him up as a friend.

monday monday

Its all systems go in the DOVE this morning and we kept our pedals to the metal for the full 2.5hours, with our friends from Appalachia, Onllwyn and Seven Sisters, its an international pop in! Then it was back for a shotgun meeting with Mr. Brito at the ARC which meant it was a case of eating my lunch whilst travelling westbound on the m4! It does wonders for my digestive system...We had fun in the afternoon down in the ABC with the communities first team helping them to edit their video footage (and playing on their shiny apple macs!), but we need to get the on the case with their blog, they're even more infrequent than me!

Speaking of which, I should be back on the wagon from here on in with regular updates...

Fridays in the wild west

Ammanford market failed to provide me with any top bargains, I hope they step up their game soon or I'll have to start frequenting car boot sales to fill my 'unique gifts' requirements. Everyone was a tad frazzled today and it was all we could do to get through the day...a Good recharging of the batteries over the weekend was definitely in order!

I wish I could upgrade my memory this easily

Thursday

I make a tentative start on a digital story with a view to getting our teeth into it properly next week, and finished off some editing for Portmead's play before dashing back to the Arc to order some extra memory for Mrs. Hadwens Laptop, as it can't keep up with her thirst for knowledge for all things digital!

I think you should get a second opinion Deb!

Wednesday

Pop in at the Arc was fun, starting to work on a transcontinental digital story! Exciting stuff I know. Debbie also unveiled her plasterless foot which was certainly an eye-opener!

Tuesday

It was my turn to attend the meetings this morning whilst Claire held down the fort in Glynneath. I was treated to a cracking cup of coffee courtesy of the lovely Lesley before kicking off with the serious business. It was all ticking along nicely when I noticed that an outsider had infiltrated the perimeter and was hiding under the table, but luckily Chris (all the way from Virginia, USA) escorted our visitor out!

Back on the blog

It was pop in at the DOVE workshop in the morning, but I was flying solo as Claire was in the first meeting (of 4) with our funders. However, I needn't have worried as Jeannette was to join me there. After an hour or so of digital video lessons I was introduced to 3 students who have travelled all the way from the Appalachian State University. I got a little bit too excited and bombarded them with a heap of random questions about their homeland, and emparted as much useless information about the UK as I could fit into a half hour. Then it was off to Ammanford for meeting number 2, before heading all the way back to Banwen (my carbon footprint has grown a ful 3 sizes in one day) where I met up with the 'Flowerpots' and slowly watched my remaining slivers of sanity peel away as the hyperactive gardeners frazzled my brain!

I'm bringing blogging back

Ok here is a brief update to bring you up to speed with the last week. I know its been hard for you all to get by without your daily dose of my rambling but fear not, I won't be neglecting you again!

Wednesday - Pop in at the Arc. Cyril kept me entertained with stories whilst we learnt how to cut people out of pictures and put them in a different scene...hours of fun if you have a mischievous streak!

Thursday - We hit up Seven Sisters and were serenaded by a top class male voice choir before, and then treated to a few numbers from the local brass band (A for effort...).

Friday - Staff day at the DOVE. A chance to reveal embarrassing secrets about yourself to the people you have to see day to day! I think I probably came out worst and the people all look at me funny now.

I'm confused that its not monday

It was a smashing start to a shortened working week, and I had only been in work for a minute or so when I was told that my new haircut was lovely by Mr. Brito! I should have swaggered off to Glynneath but was cut down to size before I even reached the door when it was pointed out that the inspiration for my aforementioned haircut was obviously TinTin! I think they must be confusing TinTin with Brad Bitt...

Glynneath was great fun and we had the run of the building as there are no courses running this week. It was a busy hour or so with some new faces and a few familiars! After our techno troubleshooting it was back to a freshly painted ARC to push on with the editing for Portmead School...In the words of the infamous Danny, Happy days.

Sleep beckons

On Friday my brain gave up and shut down to just running the core motor functions. I'm better now.

Still loving the cake

I really hope out of the 25+ learners who visited us today in Tairgwaith that a few, or even one actually makes a story, because I'm not sure how many more times I can watch Deb, Nick and Claire's! The stories are really good, but I'm starting to hear them in my sleep...

The cakes provided by Sharon today went down a treat and I'm definitely going to be dropping hints in the lead up to my birthday, so here's hoping for a slice of chocolate heaven come December!

The afternoon found us in the ARC editing guess what, Portmead's play. Luckily the end of the working day arrived to rescue us from the brink of insanity. Look out Ammanford, the cakes are coming.

I do love a bit of cake

As I clocked in this morning I was craftily outwitted by my friend Cameron without him even being there. As I held the door open I was 'tagged' by his mum, Debbie! Just you wait, I'll get the pair of you, ha ha ha!



We've reached the halfway point in Adult learner's week and the cakes just keep flowing, although due to an impressive turnout at the ARC, including a group of learners from the Spark centre, Claire and myself were left 'sans confectionery' and I had to resort to a Mars bar from cafe del ARC.

During the preceding pop in session I was working with Simon to help him set up a myspace profile. He had no problems getting to grips with the site and then we spent an hour or so adding bands from around the world as friends, and listening to their music. This was great as he has very similar taste when it comes to music, and a smattering of ska, mod and punk is a fine way to spend a Wednesday morning in my opinion.

After the digital story show it was off to camera club for an hour of fun and games, before heading home to recharge for Tairgwaith.

Game on at Glynneath

We had only been in the training centre 10 minutes and we were in trouble for taking tea off limits! eek! Claire was busy working some Powerpoint magic with Graham the gardening entrepreneur and I sunk my teeth into hunting down sheet music for a Scottish ditty.


After a few hours of techno troubleshooting it was time for the main event, cakes! No, sorry, I mean a chance to meet people and enlighten them to the different qualities of the DCN. I think we managed to recruit a few digital story converts, but that could just be the cake talking... Here is Claire chilling with her friend Howard, and look who's popping up on the screen!


Post confectionery binge found the DCN team back at the ARC and alone with the exciting prospect of editing the Portmead concert. Now, don't get me wrong, the play was excellent, and I thoroughly enjoyed watching it, I even had fun the second night, but the 14th viewing doesn't really hold the same appeal. Luckily though Cameron popped in and I got to sneak outside for a quick game of tag with him and his dad whist the footage was downloading!

Too much sugar makes Debbie dippy

Good evening one and all (well, one I guess...), its monday, its sunny and its adult learners week and we're kicking off in DOVE. We had reinforcements with us in the form of Jeanette, the newest member of the DCN team. Jeanette is trainee Community development worker with SCVS who will be our skivvy until september.

HA! Not really, (just until august..), no seriously, Jeanette will be with us every monday and thursday, and if she continues to pick up the skills as quickly as she has done today (she had a blog up and running by 11am!) she'll be a proper geek like Claire and myself. There's something for her to look forward to!

Speaking of Claire, she has just had the internet installed in her house and has taken her next major step towards nerdsville, square eyes ahoy!

We are bribing, sorry, I mean enticing learners into our pop in sessions this week with tea and cake, but we had loads left over today, and decided to treat the staff at the ARC to a well deserved sugar rush. However, I think the e-numbers had an adverse effect on Debbie, and following a few fateful bites she came over all adhd in the office! Not content with assaulting the phone in a chocolate fuelled frenzy, it was Julie (or should I say 'the fuhrer'?) who felt the force of her funny five minutes!

Then we hit up the old M4 and gunned it down to the ABC building to meet up with the Pantyffynnon Teen crew to help them with some editing and to set up a blog (which I think will prove to be very entertaining in the future).

I don't think I'll make it to 4:30...

The sullen sky has just opened up into a barrage of drizzle outside the window of AVE Ammanford. Claire had an inspired idea to bring loads of sugar and E-numbers to share this morning so I'm amped up on chocolate buttons and a smashing cup of tea courtesy of Helen. Claire has been helping her to set up a blog for a heritage walking association and you can check on her progress here. I have been busying myself preparing some freebies to distribute to the classes here to advertise our digital stories event next friday, to tie in with Adult Learners Week. Here is some pictoral evidence of my endeavours...

tired I am

I dropped Deb off at Dove this morning with Mr.Michael before heading over the mountains to Tairgwaith with the other Miss Jones. We had a quiet session but spent the time productively (as always...) and caught up with Sharon, and discovered that she lives on a farm! I'm hoping that we can go and do some outreach work there, or at least get to drive a tractor.

We headed back to Blaenymaes after a quick petrol stop and forgetting to pick up Debbie, but the noble Mr. Pritchard acted as chauffeur. The rest of the afternoon was a bit of a blur which mostly involved preparing for the evening at Daniel James (again) for the second, and final performance of Portmead's concert.

I dashed home for a quick tea with my wife who is suffering with shin splints at the moment before heading back over to the school. I armed myself with a can of 'Relentless' and braced myself for the 200+ kids and 300+ parents who were queuing outside.

The performance was great and there were no casualties despite the temperature equalling that of the sahara desert...I then staggered home for a well needed shower and sleep. Ammanford tommorrow, lets hope the market don't let us down again.

there's a cloud in my head

My brain is all fuzzy and my eyes hurt. All the symptoms of a successful day with technology!

This morning I journeyed across the seas to Capetown with our intrepid traveller who attends the pop in sessions. I find penguins and hyenas are a great start to any day.

The evening was spent in the hall at Daniel James comprehensive school, filming the Portmead 50 year anniversary production. It is amazing to see the WHOLE school involved and each class definitely stamp their individual identities on it. It was really fun, and I'm sure it will be even more fun when I get to do the same thing all over again tomorrow...

Whilst I was approaching my 11th hour of work today, I received a text from Claire letting me know that the food at the 'mansion house' was top notch, yes, thats right, I was working while the rest of the team were being entertained by the Lord Mayor (although I think he is a she, so mayoress...). Oh woe is me! I think I can hear the world's smallest violin playing my song...

When I got home I treated myself and settled down to watch one of my favourite movies ever, 'The Warriors'. When I grow up I'm going to be a Baseball furie!

tremendous tuesday

The horticultural society are perfecting their powerpoint skills and our 'authors too' are hyperlinking to Hain, all in all a busy morning at the Glynneath Training Centre. The 'pop in' sessions are building momentum which is great, but our energy levels are on the opposite scale...falling fast!

After that we made our way up the winding roads to Banwen and the delights of DOVE. We're busy getting ready for adult learners week which starts on Monday, so we were making sure that we have plenty of cakes at our disposal for our event next monday lunchtime, call by if you're in the area!

I helped Portia with her homework (about the red hot chili peppers) and then dashed over the common to Daniel James school to capture the mayhem that was the Portmead Primary rehearsals for their concert which opens...tomorrow! The DVD is shaping up to be hilarious, I'm holding out for some 'you've been framed' gold.

I could sleep for days

Monday Monday, I'm still half asleep, and given the chance I'd skip it next week...although that would mean missing our pop in session at DOVE which was good fun again today. I think we're in for a treat with some of the people we'll be working with over the next few months! After a busy hour or two it was off to Swansea to grab some lunch before heading further west to communities first to play with their shiny new macbook!

We we're hoping to set up a blog for the youth group who are working with the team down in the ABC building but Blogger was bloomin well on the blink! However, the girls enjoyed playing with the new computer and reviewing some of the footage the filmed down in the botanical gardens. I'm not sure if the mobility scooters available there were designed for 'tokyo drift' style racing, but they certainly did the job!

Then it was back down the M4 for some printing before hometime!

where's the sunshine gone?

We started out in AVE Ammanford on Friday morning but I think the miserable weather kept our clients away, so it was a quiet start to the day. Well, as quiet as it can be when our in the same building as Karen, who went bonkers with excitement when we fixed her digital camera (she had put the battery in the wrong way round!) and reached a pitch only audible to dogs and small mammals...

After all the excitement I was hyped up and keen to get down and check out the new arrivals in the market but when we reached the square I was dismayed...the market was no more than a fishmongers trailer and a pet stall. So no bargains this week, I hope they don't let me down this week, or I'll be forced to travel up to clydach to get my fix of tacky treasures!

I popped over to Cwmgrach to help our budding author with transferring his novel onto a memory stick before gunning back to the ARC for our DCN meeting where Nicky was putting the finishing touches to his 800+ word list of jobs that need doing whilst he's away basking in the sun in Cuba! Have fun Michael!

Oh and I was reminded by Deb earlier that I had neglected to post a picture of the event that had me in stitches Thursday afternoon...

Notice that my first instinct was not to rush and help, but to grab my cameraphone and document the incident! I did then scoop up the stray carrots and cabbages but it was too good a photo opportunity to pass up, Ha!

stormy weather

Today has been about as exciting as the weather. All the faces around the centre are as gloomy as the skies above...

Wet Wednesdays

It's been really wet today and the weather has certainly dampened everyones spirits! There were some glum faces to greet me this morning but things soon perked up at the ARC (probably Ayhan's enthusiasm rubbing off on us).

In the pop in session I was transported to 'Lukimbi' whilst helping to upload some video footage, and next week I think we're off to Alaska...I'm hoping we'll end up with a digital story that takes us around the globe!

After all that virtual travelling I needed to recharge my batteries so it was down the corridor to Cafe ARC. Its always an experience eating in the cafe, and the staff never fail to have me in stitches (with their sense of humour, not that their cooking sends me to hospital), and Julie was on top form today, I sneaked a snapshot as she was trying out some new looks with her beloved baseball cap!

After lunch it was off to camera club which was a riot as all the kids had been locked in all day due to the weather, and as a result were off the scale by the time they reached us.

Its off to Tairgwaith tomorrow with Tommy who wants to learn about ebay so I'll keep you posted if I spot any bargains.

Please hold the line

Claire's motor was struggling this morning so I called to pick her up and then hit the road to Glynneath. After a lovely cup of Fairtrade tea I was functioning at about 35% and was working up to full speed steadily (I should be there by about 4 o'clock Friday at this rate!).

After meeting the Horticultural society it was up the mountain to the delightful DOVE workshop to meet with a lovely lady from Seven Sisters. Val was hoping we could give her some help with digital video and converting old VHS tapes. As it happened, she is nearly more knowledgeable about technology than I am (not that that would take long, ha!) and I'm going to have to step up and get researching to be able to help with some of her technical queries.

I foud myself bombarded in Banwen by phonecalls from all directions. I was chatting to Deb on my mobile when I was informed that Eric had tracked me down on the centre phone (which was spooky as no-one really knew I was going to be there - I think Eric may have access to MI5 technology), so I had to cut short one call for another, I'm going to have a word with Anthony about utilising some of our underspend on a personal assistant to deal with my admin and calls!

By this point it was fast approaching 3pm and neither Claire or myself had had lunch, and by the time we made it back to the ARC Joanne had already closed the kitchen, so I indulged in a mars bar to avoid a blood sugar crash...(chocolate probably accounts for a third of my daily intake of food!).

We capped the day off with some video editing for the Portmead school film project, which I'm sure I'll be posting about over the next week...

But I had a treat when arrived home and checked my e-mails, my friend Cameron had sent me a message! He wasn't very well but was being well looked after and watching cartoons so I hope he's recovered (well, enough to feel better but still have a day off school...)

Dr. Doolittle

This weekend I have been mostly walking and visiting old buildings with lots of animals nearby...

I want a skullaxe for christmas

Friday was off to a storming start down in the wild west, with our intrepid traveller Steven popping in to show us his progress on his digital story, you're all in for a treat when its completed. I never though I'd find myself listening to a personal trainer rocking out and singing along to Nepalese folk songs in an old bank in Ammanford... Then I spent some time with Mrs Dowley helping her pimp her Blog, check it out now with all her fancy widgets...

After our 'Pop in 4 Help' session we had a chance to check out this weeks bargains in the market. But before I get to the good stuff I have to show you one of the best knock off products I've seen in a long time. You've all seen those super cheesy 'Cilit Bang' adverts with the fabulous Barry scott? Well Ammanford have a far superior product in the form of 'Clean it, Bam!'.

Then we pressed on to the stalls and once again the local traders have stepped up their game with a veritable feast of bargains on offer. It was a real struggle to single out just one item this week but this beauty couldn't go without a mention...

The afternoon brought me back to the ARC where I had a mad dash to tesco to pick up a floral arrangement and an assortment of confectionary for the poorly Miss.Jones. Then it was time for our DCN meeting down at cafe del debbie where we rudely awoke her from an afternoon nap!

time to waste

Thursday was a bit of a wasted morning, hopefully this won't be a recurring problem. The afternoon picked up though and I spent an hour or so helping one of the 'authors too' to transfer and backup some copies of his novel! Not content with learning all sorts of new technology he manged to squeeze in knocking out the odd 90,000 words or so! Thats nearly as many words as Debbie uses in a whole hour...only kidding (its not even close to Deb's word count ). Then i got covered in soap suds and grass by a bunch of cheeky monkeys in resolven (don't ask).

adventures of the two wheeled variety

We rode back home from Kerry's library and she got a flat tyre, so I ended up carrying a pink bike with a handbag in the basket through gowerton, while she cruised along on my big pimpin' straight eight.



I also discovered that a famous person lived by me once, no idea who Dr. Ernest Jones is though, Indiana Jones would've been cooler...

don't panic. I'm alive

This post is going to be 3 for the price of 1 as I have fallen behind with the old updating malarkey. So, to bring you up to speed, Monday started in Banwen, with some digital camera troubleshooting. Its always a worry when people have a problem with these an they ask you to save their pictures because if you make a mistake then the pictures are gone forever . . .eek!

The afternoon brought me back to the ARC before heading down for a meeting with communities first in Ammanford who've just invested in a shiny new macbook in black. So we planned a new course of activities (keep your eyes peeled for a comm. first blog...) which will keep us busy down west for a good few months to come!

Tuesday arrived as usual,(always a relief when days don't go missing) and Glynneath's pop in session was hectic! With two meetings running simultaneously and then people dropping in we were restricted to just one cup of tea! I know, pretty serious stuff eh?

We dropped down into Banwen to deliver their PCSurgery mouse mats and Pens, so it was smiles all around up on the mountain, I felt like Santa on Christmas morning! Then I treated myself to a quick jaunt over to the playground outside and carried out a risk assessment on behalf of the centre... I documented some of my findings, here you can see that the swings are safe for use ->
Wednesday brought more sunshine with it and another busy day in the ARC. We had a few people pop in for help, including our very own technician Nicholas Jones, who had a problem with his digital camera - rumours that he cracked the lens posing are unsubstantiated...
Our caretaker Ayhan also took time out from being the most helpful man in south wales to find out how to use the bluetooth function on his mobile phone. It took a little bit longer than I first anticipated though due to the fact that his phone's menus are all written in turkish! Whilst I was puzzling over the çeviri of the menus (you'll have to google to see my linguistic skills) Ayhan thought he'd see if wearing my glasses would help him with the computer -> the jury is still out on that one...

You ain't seen me...right.

This weekend I have mostly been walking...(Anyone remember the fast show?) Here is a few highlights of our walk up the Lliw Valley. I am working out the best Photohosting account to use with my Blog. Flickr is currently the winner, I'll keep you up to date with any progress, I know how you love to see the world from my skewed perspective...Ha!




Currently listening to : The Draft

cutting the rug

Its that Friday feeling for most (apart from us suckers who are working tomorrow!) and what better place to round off my week than Ammanford in all its market day glory. If any of you are stumped for gift ideas for my birthday (its only 7 months away, start saving) then I can assure you that you won't go wrong if you make a purchase from one of the stalls here. Check out this little beauty I saw today :
Not only is it a striking tiger, its a fluffy fleece blanket! I can't believe I've managed to get by without one so far...I'll keep you posted on any other hidden gems I uncover from week to week, like a personal David Dickinson.

After the excitement of the market I started a digital story with Steven that will transport you to the other side of the world. Young Steven has been adventuring all over the world and has got thousands of amazing pictures from his travels, although he did seem to attract enormous, mean looking spiders in each country he visited, and even ate a cooked tarantula!(He must have swallowed a fly first - Ha!)

Heres the view from the top floor of the AVE building,

Exciting stuff I know, but whilst I was up there I spotted an incident on the other side where a pedestrian had slipped and an ambulance had popped along to make sure they were ok, and I caught a snap from up on top of the town. Its amazing how many people stopped their cars to gawp and nearly caused huge accidents!

After Steven left to crack on with his story I headed down the stairs (with caution, like the signs told me too) and helped a rather excitable Karen start her own Blog so head over and check it out. Then it was back to Abertawe for our dcn staff meeting in Deb's house!

Lifetime rocked the songs that powered this post...

"Its eleven thirty..."

I had to take Kerry to the doctor's this morning and whilst I was waiting in the living time capsule that is Penclawdd clinic I happened upon some awesome signage. Apparently, to make use of the WC facilities there it will not suffice for you to be simply male or female, you have to be a dapper chap or a hip girl about town...


After a mad dash back to the ARC from Tairgwaith I popped up to Portmead primary whilst Claire joined Nicky for the CDT meeting in the hall. Nicky was singled out by the Belly dancer (I know, you're thinking 'what sort of meeting is this?!') and after finding himself being serenaded by this temptress he sought refuge in my office! Its like working with the 'diet coke break' guy...

The rest of the afternoon was consumed with uploading video footage for editing - square eyes all around!

I spent the evening sculpting my guns digging in my garden, look out Geoff Capes, theres a new kid on the block!

This blog was powered by Italian pop-punk songs - check out StolenBikesRideFaster if you're bored.

bigfoot hits Japan

We were booked in to start a digital story with local celebrity Steven Docherty this morning, and he was so keen to get 'digitally engaged' he turned up a whole hour early! Steve has got some fantastic stories to tell so I think the challenge for him is going to be picking just one to focus on, stay tuned for more details...

During the story circle activity Claire got so immersed in her tale of hijinks on the high seas that I thought we were going to lose her to the murky depths of the ocean, but she was pulled back from the brink along with her near drowned victim! I had opted for a slightly more surreal route with my story, all I'll say is that it involved Simon Cowell and the man with the largest feet in Japan... (I was dropped as a baby).

After a delicious meal from the fancy new menu at Cafe ARC (although my panini looked suspiciously similar to a squashed baguette), we joined our hardworking computer consultants for PCSurgery.

I'm not sure if Claire was wearing a special perfume that attracts computer enthusiasts but within the space of an hour she'd been wooed with smutty jokes by one smooth operator AND asked on a date by another cheeky chappy!

The volunteers had their hands full with customers but still managed to start a blog and learn to use the camcorder, so keep your eyes peeled for the first video tutorial for computer maintenance.

Petrol, pyros and participants

I had a shortage of petrol this morning so I decided to take action and found myself filling the taxman's pockets further at 8:45am. It seems to also be the time that all the local mums do their weekly shop at the tesco filling station, and when said station has only one member of staff...whoopee!

I rolled out with a full tank of gas (one for my american readers) approximately 20 mins later than anticipated and headed over to the ARC. It was a short window before we had to leave for glamorous Glynneath, so I raced to print my expenses for 2nd Lieutenant Grey to approve - only to be informed that I had ignored an email requesting I use a new and improved sheet - sorry Bobby! Thankfully I wasn't court-martialled and returned to duty as normal.


The pop-in session was absolutely manic (well, 3 people but by comparison to last week...) and we helped a local guinea pig rescuer (as in a human who rescues guinea pigs, not a really courageous guinea pig) to set up a blog (We should really be endorsed by Blogger! Any offers welcome) which you can check out here, however, its not suitable for anyone with a phobia of the Cavia porcellus. We also had our pioneering pensioners - the 'Authors Too' who must have had a fair few weetabix (other cereals are available) this morning to produce so much content for their blog. At one point I considered locating a fire extinguisher to cool the keyboards...Above is a pic of Eric 'lightning fingers' and Ian 'the tornado typist' hard at work.

Then it was back to cafe ARC in Portmead for a bite to eat, and I manged to nearly set the cafe on fire without touching anything, like that chap in the fantastic four! After avoiding combustion we planned some editing for the mountains of video footage we've accumulated, listened to Lisa's sister singing online and wrapped up the working day...

This blog was crafted to the dulcet tones of Cake's 'Fashion Nugget' and Weezer's 'The Green Album'

Nicky's notes and misty mondays

(N.B. - Pretend this is still monday when you read this.)

I docked at DOVE around 10:15 am running late due to an eight car pile up on the M4. The mist had become torrential rain as I climbed higher up the mountain and it was quite a challenge negotiating from my car to the office without ruining my 'just rolled out of bed' hairstyle, but I just about carried it off. I had an informative meeting with 'Community Archives Wales' before Lesley, Julie and Sue joined me to start their own Blogs! They were up and running in no time (showoffs) and I felt a little redundant so I am going to scare them with html next week! ha! So make sure you check in with the Banwen Bloggers, their links are over on the right of your screen --->

Then I ventured back to the ARC (which was fortunate due to the non-stop rain) and caught up with Claire who brought me up to speed with the DCN meeting hat took place in Glynnneath that morning. However, I needn't have fretted, as Nicky excelled as a scribe and I received a comprehensive set of minutes in my inbox later that afternoon! So, if computers don't work out for you Nick you've got a promising career as a secretary ahead...

I moved into the hall before the tai chi ninjas arrived to hop on our wireless network (that has a range of approx. 3ft) and geeked out writing codes to pull the blog rss feeds together and convert them into h t m lzzzz zzz....sorry I sent myself to sleep talking about it.

I went to visit my gran and had to drive really slowly all the way in case I squashed any frogs on the way. Visibility was poor, frogs were plentiful and foolhardy.

'Stop calling your arms guns!'

Just a brief post to keep you both updated with my weekend shenanigans. It all started so well, I was up bright and early on Saturday and after dropping Kerry off at the library I set about bagging up the mountain of soil thats been sitting on my driveway for months (oops!) After some hard graft and thanks to my formidable 'guns' I had filled 10 rubble sacks and was all set to go and fly tip them (only kidding!), but as I was washing my newly purchased spade I noticed that the water wasn't flowing down the drain, but rather it was filling up. Upon closer inspection I discovered that our drain was blocked, and our link to the sewer. . .That was not cool, in any way. I took a picture but I have decided to save you the trauma I have suffered this weekend and we will leave this story there.

So, drainage aside I spent my weekend walking with my wife, Elvis our dog and Maddy (Kerry's mum's dog) and on our travels we saw pigs (in the middle of the woods, they were huge and awesome), pheasants (which always makes me think of 'Danny the champion of the world') and cows running around like lunatics, pretty exciting stuff huh? I also went for lunch with my gran and my mum, my brother was supposed to be there but he didn't wake up in time - lunch was at 1pm! Then Sunday evening I had a phonecall from my friend Gwyn who lives on a farm in North Wales, to tell me that his band have been approached by a record label! You should head over and check out 'the mephs' and leave them a message - http://www.myspace.com/themephs Here is a candid shot of me chatting away on our girly pink phone.

In fact all this music talk has got me thinking, I always take ages to update my blog, not because the writing is carefully crafted and the words deftly worked until perfect, but because I have to plan the soundtrack for my blogging, so I will post a link to what I'm listening to when I write my updates, although I doubt that many (if any) of you will share my musical preferences! But saying that, I have been spinning some mellower tunes of late. Lets kick things off with my current favourite 'Dave House', especially 'old girl'. Be warned, I think he uses the odd blue word for those of you that are easily offended. Happy listening, nos da!

Welcome to Royston Vasey

Hello hello, (one for each of my readers - ha!) I hope this update finds you feeling fine and dandy? Its the end of a long week (well, no longer than any other week, same amount of days but you know what I mean) but its been productive and hopefully our 'pop in 4 help' sessions are going to follow in the footsteps of the now (in)famous PC Surgeries and take off.

We started the day in the wild west, or Ammanford as its sometimes known. Friday is market day which I think doubles up with 'take an eccentric relative to town day'. We saw some absolutely zany characters whilst we were there, but that's enough about the staff (only joking Karen!). Seriously though, it was a really fun morning and Karen was working like crazy to promote our session and it certainly paid off, it looks like we could be very busy over the next few months...Oh, and here's a pic of Claire in our room down in AVE Ammanford.


On the way back to the cars we had to negotiate right through the heart of the market, and let me tell you it took a hefty amount of self restraint to stop myself walking away with a few choice purchases, for example the multicoloured 'Trinidad' baseball caps, the fleece blankets with fuzzy pictures of dolphins on them and a twin cassette version of 'Now 23'! I also overheard the mobile butcher ordering his dinner from the burger van (probably because he was shouting his order form 100 yards away!), and the fact that he shouted ' I want a hot dog not a burger right, NOT A BURGER, I don't want a burger!' seemed to imply that the burgers may not be up to much (or he just really doesn't like burgers).

Having resisted temptation (even from the stall that was selling assorted multivitamins along with AA batteries and dog food) it was time to race over to Cwmgwrach to catch up with the 'Authors too'. Its always a great laugh working with the 'Old news' creators and they never cease to amaze with the progress they are making and the enthusiasm they bring to the challenges they encounter in cyberspace!

Then it was a mad dash back to the ARC for a Digital Community Network meeting, though we were one soldier down as Deb's cancelled operation on her toe had been 'uncancelled'! (You can read a bit about Deb's morning over on Claire's blog.) Although it was only under a local anesthetic, and I'm sure Bobby wouldn't have let us off a meeting just because we couldn't feel our legs! Only kidding, get well soon Debbie! Well its getting late now, so I'll treat you to another sunset picture to keep you going, enjoy your weekend!

P.S. Make sure you check out Lisa's blog, I've been in stitches! Good job Miss Watkins..

Climb every mountain

Setting off from the ARC this morning after trimming l o a d s of flyers with a wonky guillotine (I am convinced there is a disgruntled employee working in a guillotine factory who sets them just a couple of degrees off square!) I ventured up to sunny Tairgwaith. It was a surprise to see Karen from Ammanford there, she was busy moving computers around ( I made a mental note to warn Nicky to expect a call!). I then proceeded to treat myself to an extra 40 minutes of flyer trimming (with guess what, a wonky guillotine).

From AVE it was over the mountain and then over another one to Glynneath where I was stood up at the allotments by the volunteers, who were busy in the classroom expanding their knowledge of all things that grow in the ground. So I popped in to the training centre just in time to catch Nicky receiving a call from . . . thats right, Karen in Ammanford regarding a computer that she had moved earlier in the day! Check out Dr. Nicks cracking Blog here, or follow the link on the left. Stay tuned for Michaels!

Whilst I was waiting for Claire to make her way up the valley from Portmead where she had been busy filming in the school for their 50th anniversary celebration preparations, I popped up to visit the DOVE Workshop. I grabbed a quick word with Sue who had been out in the sun soaked garden all day but was suffering with an awful cold. Then I was treated to a cup of tea courtesy of the lovely Leslie, and we had a quick catch up along with Julie, but just as I had made myself comfortable it was time to hit the road again.

On the way back down the hill you are treated to a fantastic view of the valleys, but they aren't normally on fire!



I met up with Claire and we headed over to Resolven to the Play session in a local park. The next hour mainly consisted of playing parachute games, running around making loads of noise and generally acting like an 8 year old (a far cry from my sophisticated, mature demeanour that you are all accustomed to!) and at some point I ended up as a carthorse dragging a tarpaulin UPHILL with an army of tiny tearaways hitching a lift...My poor old joints will be suffering tomorrow I tell thee. I also made a new friend from the animal Kingdom on the way to the park - He was straight out of a gangsta rap video, check him out --->

And so with a new friend made Claire dropped my weary bones off at Glynneath training centre at 6pm just in time for their youth club. After working with two girls that I am convinced must eat unhealthy amounts of sugar and caffiene we had a digital story in the bag and a digital outreach worker fit to drop! I plonked myself in the car and headed for swansea, just in time to catch the sun setting on the home stretch.

Blogs, Biscuits and Bobby

The ARC is where the action was this morning, with two people booked in our first pop in session (is that a contradiction in terms?). They are still celebrating their Two Lord Mayor's Regeneration Awards that they scooped recently, which as well as being a fantastic achievement and recognition of the hard work that goes on there, also means that the students get free tea, coffee, juice AND biscuits in the classes, which more importantly means that WE get free food and tea! Its like Easter has been extended for the whole of April. I will be visiting Marjorie and trying the 'half the calories' diet at this rate. Bobby is the self appointed sampler of the celebration snacks (try saying that 3 times quickly) and has been working non-stop ensuring that the biscuits are in an optimum state for our participants...

The pop in session went really well, with one lady calling in with her brand new swanky digital camera, and Claire translated 3 years of a photography degree into 15mins! Deb had been working hard recruiting clients in need of our help all week, and then she took to the streets with our posters and came back with another client for us! Top job Deb! We spent some time working on Claire's blog, taking apart the html codes and rejiggling them into a spectacularly girly look. Then we roped in our technicians to start their own blogs - stay tuned for the links to Nicky and Michaels daily deeds. And while we thought that we were busy, Paddy, one of our PC Surgery Volunteers managed to take apart two computers, strip a power supply down to its bare bones AND swap a DVD drive between two machines...

Glynneath and beyond

I clocked in early at the ARC to print out some posters and flyers for our 'pop in 4 help!' session in Glynneath, which was due to start at 10am over 20 miles away. No problems I hear you say, with well over an hour to print and run I'd be arriving with time for a cuppa before Kick off! However, when entering the ARC its near impossible to do anything without being sidetracked into bizarre, off-topic conversations ranging form ghosts to blogs to online karaoke and that's just with Deb!

I made it to the training centre with seconds to spare and proceeded to walk the mean streets of Glynneath, putting posters up in the local shops and chatting to the (mostly eccentric) proprietors. Then it was back for a refreshing cup of fairtrade tea in the centre before hitting the road to Tairgwaith.

Before I could begin the basic IT session in the community centre I had to negotiate the roadworks in Pontardawe which is always a pleasure, especially as I seem to end up behind enormous, smelly rubbish lorries each time I'm there. So you spend the duration of the hill hoping that the behemoth in front of you refrains from dumping the putrid contents of its trailer on your bonnet as it ascends the mountain...

Arriving later than anticipated but thankfully rubbish free I enjoyed chatting with Tommy about his time spent in the far flung corners of the world whilst debating the pros and cons of cutting and pasting between different software packages. Then we looked at using google earth and I had an extended tour of downtown aberdeen (as seen from space!).

Then it was back to Swansea where I was on the prowl for an exciting photo for the blog, but I got distracted by my friend Cameron who was visiting his mum in work. He'd been off school because he's got chicken pox and had been bouncing on his trampoline all day...If only you could have chicken pox twice! Anyhow, here's a picture of Lisa trying on Claire's new shades...