A day out in Battersea Park

We'd been to Battersea park before; when Sharon was pregnant with Emily in 2006, but that was a seriously cold day and we just strolled around chatting and not taking a lot in.

We always wanted to revisit it because it looked a lovely place. I love Battersea as well. I lived there for few years and the people are friendly and it's a place of contrast.

So off we went on a considerably warmer day than our last visit. Emily loved the trip down on the tube which was made doubly special as the Jubilee line was close from Green Park. This meant she had to hop onto another tube to South Kensington then bus it to Battersea bridge. Yep, our firstborn is a public transport junkie!! Hannah was a bit more laid back about it and slept through the whole excursion.

We decided to go to Battersea Park Children's Zoo

There were quite a few small animals there; enough to keep Emily interested:........

...........otters.........

.........& meercats to show just a few. There were also monkeys, ostriches, birds, farm animals......the list goes on....

& Emily frighteningly getting into the panto mood without prompting!!!!

Of course, Emily had to check out the activities as well!!!

After leaving the zoo we had a walk around the park. The Japanese Buddist padoga in the park is a thing of beauty and gives you the feeling of peace.

Here's a picture of Sharon in front of the pagoda....

............& a nice one of Sharon & Emily walking around it.

I had to include this one of Emily. I just love it.

Now, you may be wondering where all the pictures are of Hannah. Well, she was asleep with whoever was taking the photographs. There will be plenty of pictures of her to follow in later entries, I promise!

Oh, if you're going to Battersea Park & decide to have some dinner there, visit the Prince Albert pub across the road. The staff were really friendly and the food was great.

The problems with updates after installing XP SP3

If any of you are using Micosoft XP as an operating system and install Service Pack 3 (SP 3), you may find that you will not be able to download further updates from Microsoft products.

It doesn't happen to everyone, but it is an issue. The problem is that when SP3 is installs, it forgets to register it.

Fear not, a work around is available. Follow the instructions below:

Log on as an administrator, and run cmd.exe, and issue the following commands:
> net stop wuauserv
> cd\windows\system32
> regsvr32 wups2.dll
> net start wuauserv
and try again.

This work around was kindly supplied by the Ziggy at kioskea computing community.

Airline announcements

Someone sent me through some announcements that have been uttered by Australian and New Zealand cabin staff. I had to share them with you all:

On an Air NZ Flight with a very 'senior' flight attendant crew, the Pilot said, 'Ladies and gentlemen, we've reached cruising altitude and will be turning down the cabin lights. This is for your comfort and to enhance the appearance of your flight attendants.'

On landing the hostess said, 'Please be sure to take all your belongings. If you're going to leave anything, please make sure it's something we'd like to have.'

'There may be 50 ways to leave your lover, but there are only 4 ways to leave the aircraft.'

As the plane landed and was coming to a stop at Auckland , a lone Voice came over the loudspeaker: 'Whoa, big fella. WHOA!'

After a particularly rough landing during thunderstorms in Adelaide, a flight attendant on a Qantas flight announced, 'Please take care when opening the overhead compartments because, after a landing like that, sure as f*** everything has shifted.'

From a Qantas employee: 'Welcome aboard Qantas Flight X to Y to operate your seat belt, insert the metal tab into the buckle, and pull tight. It works just like every other seat belt; and, if you don't know how to operate one, you probably shouldn't be out in public un-supervised.'

'In the event of a sudden loss of cabin pressure, masks will descend from the ceiling. Stop screaming, grab the mask, and pull it over your face. If you have a small child travelling with you, secure your mask before assisting with theirs. If you are travelling with more than one small child, pick your favourite.

'Weather at our destination is 32 degrees with some broken clouds, but we'll try to have them fixed before we arrive. Thank you, and remember, nobody loves you, or your money, more than Qantas Airlines.'

'Your seat cushions can be used for flotation; and in the event of an emergency water landing, please paddle to shore and take them with our compliments.'

Heard on Qantas Airlines just after a very hard landing in Hobart . The flight attendant came on the intercom and said, 'That was quite bump and I know what you are all thinking. I'm here to tell you it wasn't the airline's fault, it wasn't the pilot's fault, it wasn't the flight attendant's fault... it was the asphalt!'

Another flight attendant's comment on a less than perfect landing: 'We ask you to please remain seated as Captain Kangaroo bounces us to the terminal.'

An airline pilot wrote that on this particular flight he had hammered his ship into the runway really hard. The airline had a policy which required the first officer to stand at the door while the passengers exited, smile, and give them a 'Thanks for flying United. 'He said that, in light of his bad landing, he had a hard time looking the passengers in the eye, thinking that someone would have a smart comment. Finally everyone had got off except for an old lady walking with a cane. She said, 'Sonny, mind if I ask you a question?' 'Why no Ma'am,' said the pilot. 'What is it?'
The little old lady said, 'Did we land or were we shot down?'

After a real crusher of a landing in Sydney , the Flight Attendant came on with, 'Ladies and Gentlemen, please remain in your seats until Captain Crash and the Crew have brought the aircraft to a screeching halt against the gate. And, once the tire smoke has cleared and the warning bells are silenced, we'll open the door and you can pick your way through the wreckage to the terminal.'

Part of a flight attendant's arrival announcement: 'We'd like to thank you folks for flying with us today. And, the next time you get the insane urge to go blasting through the skies in a pressurised metal tube, we hope you'll think of Qantas.'

A plane was taking off from Mascot Airport . After it reached a comfortable cruising altitude, the captain made an announcement over the intercom, 'Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. Welcome to Flight Number XYZ, non-stop from Sydney to Auckland . The weather ahead is good and, therefore, we should have smooth and uneventful flight. Now sit back and relax - ARGHHH! OH, MY GOD!' Silence followed and after a few minutes, the captain came back on the intercom and said, 'Ladies and Gentlemen, I am so sorry if I scared you earlier, but, while I was talking, the flight attendant brought me a cup of coffee and spilled the hot coffee in my lap. You should see the front of my pants!'
A passenger in Economy said, 'That's nothing. He should see the back of mine!'

At it again!

For those of you who have followed my blog for the last 2 years will know that I like my conspiracy theories about cloning and doubles.....

.....well, look at these two and tell me there's no similaraties.


(for those of you not familiar with Father Ted, it was a 1990's comedy show from Ireland that I think was one of the funniest programs ever aired on television)