For next 1hr45 mins… Starting 15:22 CMT

… but no time to write. Been busy putting this together today: early stages, etc… agaveweb.com/shop (I’m not putting an active link in just yet, don’t want it indexed before the actual domain). It’s, er, very Santa Cruz…

(Keane, last night, doing their thing…)

People tend to arrive on this page to see if there are problems with http://isc.ro, your best bet is downforeveryoneorjustme.com/isc.ro to see if it’s down for everyone or just you.

EDIT: 1/12/08

When I logged into scrabble today I saw this message, thought it might help the folks who got here via google for ISC server status…

EDIT: 2/Nov/08: The isc.ro site’s been down for me (and everyone else according to http://downforeveryoneorjustme.com/)  for a week or so. I can still log in and play though… Doesn’t bode well.

Internet Scrabble Club

EDIT: 1/June/08 : Just noticed a spike in traffic for hardcore scrabble addicts wondering what’s up with the ISC server. On their site it’s saying:

The main server is currently experiencing an outage. We do not have an estimated time to repair at present. ISC backup server is running, to connect select from the ‘Open Connection’ window ‘ISC backup server’
We apologize for the inconvenience.

I can’t connect to the backup server though… Hey ho. Looks like it’s back to Scrabulous on Facebook

Just testing a new button I’ve got on me browser that I can press when I want to blog a page I like… My scrabble rating’s presently at 915, highest ever. This year I intend to get past 1000. Sita’s moving over to the dark side though, with her Su Doku, so fat chance of any real world practice…

I’ve just ordered another all-singing, all-dancing Pocket PC. The plan is to use it for photography, videos, mp3ery, skypery and general messing about on the web. Blogging even. I’m extremely excited about it all. Should arrive in a few days time, end of the week maybe. After my Palm Zire 72 experiences I’m a little wary but I’ll soon get over that. Behold the glorious dawn of: IPAQ rx3715 Catchy name, no?

Got me tickets back to MX too today, Alaska Airlines no less, chosen primarily for the nice, cool, frozen imagery their name conjours up to this sweaty, overheating, ennervated Expedia user… Righty, off to tea… Don’t forget to comment…

Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | The meticulously planned operation behind Britain’s biggest cash robbery
So whose side are you on?…

It doesn’t half take it out of you, being ill. I’m way past the worst of it but still have a slightly green tinge to my complexion and all the abdominal muscles I used recreating scenes from The Exorcist on Saturday night are aching like buggery right now. Still that’s one more strain of gastroenteritis to which I’m now immune, and one more torta ahogada vendor to strike off my list of suppliers… I made it to work this morning and got a fair bit done but when the internet disappeared I came home to carry on working.
Anyway I’ll try to stay clear of the subject just in case you’re eating, or thinking of eating.

Friday night we went out to Polibio again with an increasingly drunken band of folks. Had the same dish as last time and t’was delicious. Saturday was spend on web designery and paying bills in TelMex and Oxxo. TelMex have a handy machine that puts your balance on the screen and then you feed it bank notes/bills until you’ve covered your debt and then it spits out a receipt. If you’d like to collect Mexican swearwords, hang out in that area for half an hour with a notebook and you’ll hear more variations on chingar than in your average cantina, as everyone from business types to little old ladies try to get the machine to accept their money… Jose came round early evening for a photo trip to El Retiro and other barrios. I’m not sure how I’ve managed to be here without seeing this really old part of town. Definitely worth a visit. The light wasn’t perfect for the photos but there’s a few nice shots I’ll publish to flickr presently. Then we had a swift pint in La Fuente, then the aforementioned torta ahogada and tostada de lomo in La Alemana. We headed back and Sita had made cookies. I’d complained to Jose that there are no bars in Santa Teresita (the barrio next to where we live) nor El Retiro so he set out to prove us wrong by taking us to a bar called El Oso not far from our house. There was a football play-off going on there and one of the clients at the bar’s son/nephew/summink was the goal keeper and the atmosphere was grand. Unfortunately at this point I started to feel ill, and after demanding to go home things got worse. We watched the Eurovision Song Contest on telly on the Spanish Channel, TVE, I already knew who was going to win because of Flash’s blog, but Sita didn’t so there was some tension. It’s not the same without Wogan prattling on, but the fact a Finnish glam/death/metal group walked away with the prize was fantastic. Ireland’s entry “Every song is a cry for love” coincided with my first bout of gastric unpleasantness though. Coincidence?

Today is the lazy day I’ve been yearning for. Monkey Dust in the morning. That Spike Lee heist film in the afternoon and further R & R for the evening. If all goes according to plan. Last night Sarah and Mark saved us from our where-to-go quandry by inviting us round for specially imported Crianza Tempranillo and guac/cheesy/tapenade snacks. Perfect. Thanks.

In geekery news, I just added a new “Recent Heated Debate” section to the sidebar which shows where the latest comments are and who they’re from. The names fade to white as they age, which is a nice touch, I reckon. I’m considering a 3-column makeover too. Comment away to see PHP in action.