Finding The Best Online Digital Photo Printing Service

Given the financial insanity of buying a digital photo printer for occasional home use, I was hunting around for a price comparison site for photo printing services and found printRates.com. It's fairly simple to use - just enter the number of prints you want at what size and what shipping method and it returns a comparison table of results from a decent sized list of printers.

It's a primarily US-based site but does allow you to change the country to the UK and, while reviews of UK photo printing services are fairly thin on the site, hopefully that will improve as time goes by.

I saw a review of several of these sites in a magazine a while ago and, given the results of that on the quality of the printing, I've been using PhotoBox but I may well try a few of these others out now as well.

There are a few reviews of online photo processors out there worth checking out as well…

• reviewcentre - Online Photo Processors
• reviewcentre - Photo Processors
• shopsafe - Digital Prints
  

Buying DVDs No Longer Makes Sense

Having recently signed up for a 30 day trial of DVD and games rental site LOVEFiLM, I have to admit that it's a very appealing service and one that will probably change the way we buy and watch DVD movies. They have over 65,000 titles available and you simply build yourself a list of the films you want to see or games you want to play and, based on what rental plan you're on, the discs get mailed to you by first-class post as soon as you have a rental slot available. You can even set the priority of the titles you want to get and you can then keep the disc as long as you want and then mail it back to them in a postage-paid envelope once you're done with it.

I chose the simplest option for the trial - unlimited rentals of one disc at a time, which I thought was enough to try it out and it works out at roughly two films a week assuming that we watch it the day it arrives and return it the next day. Frankly I doubt if we could watch more than that as we really don't want to turn into that kind of couch potato. There are lighter plans available that limit the number of rentals per month and heavier plans of unlimited rentals of up to three discs at a time. You can even add video games onto your rental plan if you want to.

Of course there'll always be discs that we'll want to buy and own for watching again and sometimes again or just for the loads of extras some of them come with but for the most part, once we've watched a disc, it gets stuffed away in a cupboard and will probably never be watched again. We've got over 300 DVDs at home now that adds up to quite a sum of money spent over the last few years. Sure, you can always sell them via eBay or Amazon, etc., and I have done quite a few times, but that's a lot of hassle for very little return and now that there's no Post Office near my work, it's simply not worth the bother.

The one disc at a time plan comes in at just under £10 a month, which equates to roughly £120 a year for about 90 discs and I'm factoring in a fair chunk of holidays there. Now think about how much it'd cost you to buy 90 DVDs and it works out at well over £120 doesn't it? Even if you wait until they're cheaper, say £7 each, then that's a massive £560! If we slowed the watching momentum to one movie a week, which I reckon we'll eventually get to once the novelty wears off a bit, it still works out that we're saving an awful lot of money renting instead of buying.

The only downside I can see to renting is the fact that rental copies often don't contain extra material or extended/director's editions and the discs themselves go through a lot of hands so can get a bit worn out. However, buying DVDs, for me, is now a thing of the past unless it's a very special disc that I simply couldn't rent or one that has enough interesting or entertaining extras on it to make it worth the purchase.

The standard trial period for LOVEFiLM is 14 days but if anyone wants a 30 day trial, then get in touch and I can send you a code for it. It gets me a month's free rental as well so even better!

Ibanez RG3270 Prestige Bargain

I got a phone call from my son last week, gibbering about a guiter he just had to have because it was a seriously top model and it was going at a knockdown price and could he please borrow the money for it. He was in Merchant City Music in Glasgow so I could get there easily at lunchtime.

Ibanex RG 3270 Prestige (Deep Red)

It turned out that it was an Ibanez RG3270, one of their Prestige models although some rate these as J Customs. True enough the price it was going for was low, given that we'd seen it on sale for £1,300 not that long ago but it was now a discontinued model. It's got a flame maple and mahogany body, rosewood fingerboard, Edge Pro bridge, locking tremelo system, DiMarzio PAF Pro pickups in bridge and neck position and a DiMarzio Blue Velvet pickup in the mid position. Still, given that spec and build quality, it's still a stunningly good instrument and a good work through by David on it in the store soon proved that.

So that's the fourth guitar I've bought him out of Merchant City Music so far but I'm hoping I'll get some money off him for this one (fingers crossed).

Sainsbury's Cuts Bills In Half!

Just noticed that our local Sainsbury's till receipts are now being printed on both sides. Not just the usual preprinted promotions and adverts but the actual lines from the receipt are now continued on the back.

Obviously the system needs to wait until the checkout girl hits the total key to work out where to break the text and how much paper to use but it's a great way to save some trees and maybe even a wee bit of energy as well.

Sainsbury's was the first company in Europe to install these NCR double-sided receipt printers, saving them a great deal in paper costs. Wonder if us punters will see any of these savings passed down to us?

Camera Trilemma?

I fancy a new lightweight camera for taking on holiday as my Sony DSC-H2 is just too big to lug around the beach, etc. It's not that big for sure and certainly isn't in the bulk and weight league of the more traditional dSLR cameras but it isn't really that portable. I've got a little Sony DSC-P10 but it's getting a bit long in the tooth now.

I had been looking at the small but high-zoom models offered by Panasonic (DMC-TZ3), Sony (DSC-H3) and Canon (PowerShot SX100-IS). Spotted the Sony a few weeks ago and it does look small and neat and I finally got my hands on the Canon at the weekend but it's just isn't small enough. A pity as it's probably the best of the three. The Panasonic is small enough and is a good bit of kit but it's a year old now and only 7.2 megapixels so I was hoping that they'd announce something new around about now but nothing so far. They've all got some pros and cons:

• The Canon has the better optics and processor and uses AA batteries but it's too big. If I'd wanted a bigger one I'd have gone for the PowerShot G9.
• The Sony can take extension lenses and filters but has a reputedly awkward menu system and a clunky, detachable lens cap.
• The Panasonic has a true wide-angle lens but is only 7.2 megapixels and is a year old design.
  

So, I had just about decided on the DSC-H3 when what do Sony do but announce a replacement for it already. The Sony DSC-H10 is due out in May so that scuppers the buy at the moment. How can I win? I bet come May or before it, Panasonic and/or Canon will have a new model out as well.

...and I want to look for a real dSLR camera soon as well. Grumble...both Nikon and Canon have announced new entry-level modfels in the last week or so as well so I'll have to wait until they're out now as well

Why Doesn't IKEA Deliver?

We've just had the kitchen done - new units, tiling, etc. so thought we'd get some stuff from IKEA to help finish it off. I had a bit of a browse on their site and spotted a circular dish drainer that would go well on our new semi-circular sink drainer. The IKEA web site's not bad, it gives the dimensions, images, etc. and you can even check if an item is in stock at your local store.

So, off we headed to IKEA the other night to find those items that the site had said were in stock. Note: Never, ever go at the weekend, especially a wet one, as the place is crammed full of hopeful and probably disappointed shoppers. Anyway, we wandered around the maze of twisty paths, ignoring the impulse buys, and hunted high and low to no avail and, not having had the foresight to remember the ridiculous names they give stuff, we couldn't really ask anyone where we could find them. We even got hold a catalogue but that only lists their main lines.

However, here's the killer. Before you can shop online with IKEA, you have to check if they deliver to your postcode area. Not unreasonable you might think but they seem to have different rules for delivieries for goods bought instore and for those bought online.

I know my local IKEA do deliveries as I've had some wardrobes and storage units delivered in the past so imagine my shock to find that I can't get a delivery from them if I order the goods online. What kind of system is that? The store is only a few miles away in Braehead so it's not like we're on the Outer Hebrides.

Now we're going to have to go back to the store and get hold of one of their very hard to find assistants and get them to tell us where the stuff we want is. Wish us luck!

It's no wonder there are a stack of blogs and sites out there listing people's gripes about IKEA. Here's a few worth reading…

• This Blog Sucks: IKEA
• I hate Ikea
• Sunday reflection: The 10 stages of IKEA
  
• Danielle Crittenden: Why I Hate Ikea
• I Hate Ikea!
• Retail Torture - Swedish Style
• Why I Hate Ikea
  

ChoicesUK CDs and Mobile Phones

Online DVD and Video Game store Choices UK are now selling music CDs and mobile phones. They've been a pretty reasonable supplier for some years now and I've bought quite a few DVD box sets off of them in the past as they do some pretty good deals now and then.

I was looking for a few CDs and have to say that I wasn't impressed by their prices but they are offering a 5% discount on your first music order up until the 31/12/2006. Just enter the code ROCKON at the checkout.

Free(View) At Last!

Well, after months of dithering around, we finally went out and bought a Topfield TF5800PVR so we could get Freeview and get rid of our VCR and the pile of VHS tapes cluttering up the living room. I was waiting to to see what Humax would come up with in their new pvr-9200T and to see if Topfield were going to release a network compatible model but they haven't and the Humax doesn't match up so a TF5800PVR it had to be.


The "Toppy" is a brilliant bit of television kit. It comes with two FreeView tuners, which means that you can watch one channel, while recording another. In fact you can watch one and record two others at the same time with it. It's also got a 160Gb hard drive, which translates to about 80 hours of recordings and that's equivalent to about 20 240 minute VHS tapes and that's a lot of tape. There's a 250Gb model available but I really couldn't see us filling it but I suppose if you were a TV series addict, you might. On top of all that, you can enhance the functionality of the box by installing Topfield Application Programs (TAPs).

Now if only FreeView was actually any good :-(

CD-WOW Books!

I've just had an e-mail from CD-WOW! telling me that they're now selling books. Now that's excellent news as they're already a very well respected supplier of CDs, DVDs, Video Games and lots of other stuff.

First impressions of the service aren't great as most of the titles displayed on the main books page are hardbacks and there's no way to browse by genre. Still, it's a new line for them and it's bound to improve.

If they stick to the same formula of stocking mostly best-sellers and new releases as they do with CDs and DVDs, etc., then they're bound to pick up lots of business, especially with free shipping.

Several other entertainment media suppliers such as Play.com, DVD.CO.UK and the thehut.com have gone down this road already and are always worth checking if you're looking for a book. Of course Amazon.co.uk are always worth checking too but bear in mind that they charge carriage on orders under £15.

You might also find online book price comparison sites worth using as well.

Another Online Bargain

I've fancied a pair of light walking boots/trainers for a while and have never seen anything I liked enough before now. I'd also wanted something I could abroad on holiday and do some light walking in. I usually just plod around in trainers but we end up doing miles and my feet are killing me by the time we're done.

Anyway, we were trolling around the outdoors shops in town last weekend and looking for walking sandals for Lorna and I saw these…

Merrell Chameleon II GORE-TEX XCR

So I tried them on and they're really light with a good Vibram sole for walking in. They're also lined in Gore-Tex^® XCR^® so they're breathable and weatherproof - ideal for light day hiking in any conditions. This is getting to sound like an advert but I baulked a bit when I saw the price - £85. That's more than I've ever paid for any kind of footwear other than my climbing boots so I thanked the salesman and headed home to hunt for them on the net.

Suprisingly, most online stores were selling them at £85 as well so I thought that a bargain wasn't going to be found but after a bit of a surf around I managed to find a store with a sale on so and I got them for about £71 with the P&P and that's nearly 16½% off. Not a great bargain by any means but better than a poke in the eye with a pointy stick!

I just need to break them in now…

Time For A Camera Upgrade

I've just ordered a new camera. After much deliberation, I decided on a nearly dSLR instead of a full dSLR as I really didn't want the hassle of lugging one of those heavyweights around and all the paraphenalia that goes with it.

Anyway, I settled on the Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-H2 as the best of the bunch in the six megapixel, super-zoom range.
The other contenders were the Panasonic Lumix DMC-F7EB and the Canon PowerShot S3 IS, and all three are basically very close in specification - six megapixels, 12x optical zoom, optical image stabiliser, etc. but the H2 comes out as the better choice in online reviews. See the reviews for all three on the excellent Digital Photography Review site and check out the comparisons sections…

• Canon PowerShot S3 IS
• Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ7
  
• Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-H2

Luckily, the Sony is also the cheapest of three. The Panasonic is only a little more expensive but the Canon is almost £50 more.

Hope it gets here soon!

A Week On Skye - Galleries and The Two Churches Walk

We woke up to a slightly duller day. There was low cloud and a quick check of the weather forecast confirmed yesterday's possibility of a little rain so no hill walking today. Anyway, we'd had two days in a row on the hills so a wee rest was welcome. With no great enthusiasm for venturing out, we dragged out heels a bit but after lunch we decided to go and see what a couple of the more out of the way art galleries had to offer.

First on the list was the Orbost Gallery, a little art gallery about three to four miles south of Dunvegan at the end of a little single-track road. They had a reasonable selection of watercolours, wood engravings and etchings but we didn't see anything in our price bracket. It'd be nice if these artists offered more prints of their work instead of fairly high-priced originals, which must be hard to shift to the tourist trade. Lorna's sister and brother-in-law have a little painting and pottery gallery in Carrbridge and they do a small range of prints of Jeff's work, which definitely sell more easily to the passing trade.

Next was a run all the way out to Colbost, on the west side of Loch Dunvegan, to Skye Silver as Lorna fancied a bit of silver jewellery. They had some very nice pieces of work and she eventually, after a lot of umming and aahing, picked a fairly plain looking ingot of silver on a chain - sigh! They had all manner of Celtic designs and some inspired by the Coral Beaches and local seashore life. Still, she's happy with her lump of silver and it didn't cost me an arm and a leg so I'm not complaining.

The Two Churches walk, Dunvegan

Having pretty much ignored the village when we visited the Coral Beaches and the castle earlier in the week, we stopped in at Dunvegan as it wasn't very off of our route coming back from Colbost. We nipped into the local Tourist Information Office and found a leaflet describing a short walk between two churches so we found the first church, Duirinish Parish Church, just across and up the the road a bit and, the drizzle aside, we thought we'd make the best of it and have a short stroll, it only looked to be a couple of miles long.

The path wanders north-east, paralleling the road, through woodland until it gets up almost as far as Dunvegan Castle and you get some decent views of the castle roof over the tree tops. Then it curves round and doubles back, heading out of the woods and onto the hillside, which was appreciated as it was getting a bit steamy in the woods. The path basically continues on until it gets to the old ruined St. Mary's church just off the A850, where five MacLeod chiefs lie buried, and it passes close by the Duirinish Stone, erected by the villagers on the summit of Drum-na Creige to commemorate the Millennium.

Toffee Anyone?

There's not much left too see of the old church and graveyard and I don't really like taking pictures of such places. The dead should be left to rest in peace. The best bit of the day was just at the end of the walk when we ran into a small group of friendly Highland Cattle or toffee coos as we like to call them after their being used on the label for McCowan's Highland Toffee bars for years! I was quite surprised that they were so placid as there were a good few calves in the group and we had no bother wandering through the middle of them. As you can see, they posed for a few shots.

So, a bit of a damp squib today but it gave us a chance to rest and recuperate as I think Lorna fancies a bigger walk tomorrow, assuming the weather is a bit better.

Plants, A Barbecue And An Almost Built Table

Today was almost just another Sunday. Got up late, watched the Moto GP on TV (Valentino Rossi rules) and then the weather got nice...

First thing we did was to go out to the Greenhead Nursery in Inchinnan as Lorna fancied a few more plants for the garden. Anyway, it was a useful foray and we returned with two nice azalias, a couple of pinks and about four alpines.

I'd bought a barbecue as we'd always fancied having our own one last week so this was a good opportunity to try it out. Luckily, I'd picked up a sack of charcoal and lighter fluid yesterday and we had some chicken breasts and ready made kebabs in the fridge so we were all systems go for a potentially burnt dinner. But first...

We had to build a table for us to eat it off. Don't get me wrong, this wasn't a spontaneous thought as we 'd bought all the wood and screws'n stuff a few weeks ago so now was as good a time as any to get it done. Lorna, being the brains of the outfit, does the design and measuring and I get to do the sawing and putting it all together stuff.

It was all going to plan at first - we had the four top sections cut and fastened together nicely when we came to the difficult bit, the legs. These legs had to be able to fold down flat so we could store the table away so Lorna's design required one pair to be inside the other when folded. It all was all a bit complicated to me and positioning the cross-spares was critical for a flat finish. we must've been getting hungry as it took us about three goes at getting the damn things built and then attached with hinges - there are more holes in the wood than are required and that's all I'm saying. Anyway, the design's not quite right and we'll need to brace the corners as it wobbles and tries to fall over a lot.

So, finished with the table for the day, we started the barbecue. It was a charcoal burning one, a portable Weber Go Anywhere. We thought having a portable one was a good idea as we could take it camping or on picnics. This is the first time either of us had tried to light a barbecue so that provided some amusement for a while and it took a few goes but we got it lit eventually.

So we had a nice dinner of charcoal cooked kebabs and chicken with pitta bread and lots of salad. Oh and a bottle of red wine as well to round off a decent Sunday even if we learned that we're not carpenters.

Happiness: £1

My daughter Jacqueline was fed up having to make up tapes to play in my old fashioned car cassette player so she bought one of those little adapters that plug into the cassette slot and the results are pretty amazing. She's got an iPod mini and it sounded great fed through this adapter. You plug one end into the iPod earphone socket and shove the "cassette" end into the slot.

I'd looked at them before and was even considering getting a decent MP3-CD player for the car but just hadn't gotten round to it and the price of iPod/MP3 player compatible models is pretty high. Anyway, this little gadget only cost £1 from Poundland, one of those "everything for a pound" places - an amazing bargain, especially as Apple want almost £18 for the cheapest one they sell.

A Short Break In Oban - Ganavan To Dunstaffnage

Oban Bay

This was our last day in Oban so, once we'd had breakfast, paid the bill and checked out, we headed back up to McCaig's Tower to get some decent shots out over the firth since the weather was still pretty good. What really made it better looking was the fact that the sea was glassy calm!

Island Views

Ganavan To Dunstaffnage

Then, it was once again down into town for the makings of a pack lunch and off for another walk. Just a short one this time so we headed up to Ganavan, planning to walk around the coast to Dunstaffnage Castle. It's about a four mile round trip so nothing too strenuous, especially with a couple of hours worth of driving ahead.

Ganavan has a lovely sandy beach and I remember we spent an afternoon on it a few years ago one warm September day. We headed off along the beach towards the cliffs and onto the pretty rough path leading around the base of the cliffs. It has to be said that the path is mostly composed of broken off rubble from the cliffs and is pretty rough so sturdy boots are a good idea. I also have to mention that there is a tricky step to negotiate on the cliff edge that you might find a show-stopper if you're not very sure-footed or confident above drops into the sea. I fancied just leaping over the gap but Lorna managed to find a more sensible route so we made it over safely. Mind you if anyone had slipped, then they'd have been in the sea with possibly a broken bone or two as well.

After that the path leads on towards Dunstaffnage without any further problems. You come across the ruined Chapel before the Castle, which is also sort of ruined with the addition of a small tourist shop and ticket stall. The castle itself is a ruin as well and we'd been in before so didn't fancy paying to see it again so we sat down in the grounds and had lunch on the grass.

Dunstaffnage Castle

The return trip involved walking back as far as the cliffs and then following the faint path over Ganavan Hill, which was a much more pleasant way to go. The views were better and the Gorse bushes were in full bloom so the smell on the wind was excellent. Then it was back down onto Ganavan beach for another wee rest on the sand before heading back into Oban for some last minute shopping. Managed to pick up a Stornoway Black Pudding, as we both love the stuff, an Isle of Mull Truckle of cheese for my mum and dad and a jar of mint boilings for Lorna's dad.

Then, sadly it was time to head home to Glasgow. There were some really good views of Ben Cruachan, Ben Lui and Ben Lomond, all of them covered in snow, on the way back. Pity I didn't manage to get any photos of them.

MSG Woes

I spent most of Sunday in bed, in the dark, with a searing headache and I suspect it was due to me trying something new the night before from the Chinese carry out. I'm pretty sure that I'm intolerant of MSG (monosodium glutamate) as I frequently get hit with such killer headaches after eating exotic food and it's usually the afternoon of the next day before I get them. It could be an allergy to something else completely but it's almost always after eating such things as a Chinese take-away or a pre-packed ready meal.

I have to be careful where I get take-away food from and the place in question is one of those I can usually trust but it depends what dish I get as well sometimes. I thought I'd try the Szuechen Beef for a change and it was really nice but obviously it's one of those dishes they add the dreaded flavour enhancer to. I even have to be careful in restaurants as well as they are just as likely to give me a reaction if the dish contains whatever it is that triggers my allergy.

If we're shopping and fancy a ready meal as something quick and easy, I give the ingredients a quick scan and reject anything with MSG, E621 or the words flavour enhancers in the ingredients now. The after effects of such quick and tasty food are such that it really isn't worth the pain. Analgesics such as paracetamol or ibuprofen don't work at all for me but migraine relief tablets sometimes do the trick and so does Solpadeine.

Aftermath and a Discovery

Well the big day is over and we're recovering from the over-indulging. We've been out for the obligatory walk around to clear the tubes, etc. and now it's time to settle back down and think about more food and drink...

A major discovery we found on our stroll around the area was a new supermarket. When the local Safeway got sold off to Morrisons, it ended up being shut down and boarded up, which meant having to drive to the nearest Sainsbury's at Braehead. Not that Morrison's is a patch on Sainsbury's but it was handy enough to stroll down to for odds and ends.

Anyway, we were just getting to the end of our wandering and were about to turn and head home when lo, rising from the skyline, we saw a great big Morrison's sign. Approaching nervously, we came across the car park and, nestling at it's centre, a brand new Morrison's mega store (shut of course as it's Boxing day).

The obvious excitement at the revelation of a new store aside, the best present we've had so far are the first indications that our noisy and anti-social nightmare neighbours are moving out!

All that's left now is to decide on whether it's the duck or fajitas for dinner.

Big Fridge...Small Kitchen!

Our fridge freezer has decide to trying warming stuff up instead of cooling it down and, since it's over 10 years old, it was time to order a new one. So, the online shopping engine clanked into gear and...

...have you ever tried to find a 50cm wide fridge freezer?

Our kitchen is very small, about 6' * 6', so there's very little space for appliances. So that means we can only fit in a narrow 50cm wide fridge unit and there's very little choice of models out there. I'm sure this is a side effect of the current trend towards large American style fridges, some of which could easily masquerade as a small spare room for visiting Eskimos.

We found one, not exactly ideal but there wasn't much choice, so it'll hopefully be here before Christmas or we ain't having a very festive time food wise and I really want my trifle!

Gore-Tex and Heavy Metal

Spent another afternoon in town yesterday. We'd decided that we'd get each other decent weatherproof outdoor jackets for Christmas as we do a bit of walking and we've got just about everything else we need. I keep asking for an ice-axe but Lorna's of the opinion that, if I had one I'd actually try and use it on something dangerous.

Anyway, the ice-axe issue aside, we're not badly equipped...

• Boots - ✓
• Binoculars - ✓
• Bobbly Hat - ✓
• Camera (Digital) - ✓
• Scarf'n'Gloves (uncoordinated) - ✓
• Walking Poles for Lorna (women and wooses only) - ✓
• Rucksack (small) - ✓
• Rucksack (mid-sized) - ✓
• Waterproof Jacket - ✓ (but not Gore-Tex)

So it was a trek around the outdoors shops to see if we could find anything that suited us. We were looking for light, breathable ones that you could zip a fleece into so that meant decent quality and a good make. These ain't cheap and the shops have most of the good ones wired to alarm systems so trying them on is like negotiating a bank loan. No, actually that's easier! Anyway I got one for Lorna but the shops were closing by then so I'm still looking for mine.

Tried to persuade Lorna to go see The Chronicles of Narnia since we were in town but she wasn't up for it, having tramped around the shops for hours.

'course we ended up in Virgin and I bought a couple of stocking fillers. I love the way you can pick up any CD, scan it and then listen to a sample of each track. It's a great way to discover new music.

The first choice was Ghost Reveries by Swedish band Opeth for me, which is pretty heavy metal stuff and that means David'll blag it once I've digitized it. Also picked up Highest Hopes by Finnish band Nightwish - a bit lighter than Opeth but still listed as Metal. This is a "best of" CD that includes a live cover of Pink Floyd's, "High Hopes" and a three-track live bonus DVD.

Just Another Saturday

Got dragged into Glasgow town centre by the kids today, even though Jac had already been in with her mother in the morning. It's a kind of ritual, we go in for a couple of hours most Saturdays, sometimes just to buy a magazine but I get to spend some time with them and we usually drop in on their grandparents on the way home.

The Christmas shopping frenzy is well underway as the place was packed. Got lucky in the car park and got a space without having to prowl around for ages, stalking anyone that looked like they were getting ready to leave.

Anyway, the usual route usually means we go into GAME first to see if there's anything new and to check for a copy of Baldur's Gate 2 in the second hand PS2 games bin. David's after a few games this Christmas so trying to steer him away from any that we know have been bought already is getting trickier as time goes on. Still no Baldur's Gate 2 and we leave empty handed.

Then it's sometimes a guitar shop for David to drool over the merchandise. If we're lucky he'll have a play with something way too expensive, usually gathering a small audience, before we depart. We almost never buy anything unless he sees a song book he fancies. Anyway, we've been looking at effects processor boards for a few weeks and the shops are full of Boss GT-8's but his mate has one and says it's pants. David already has a POD XT but fancies the larger POD XT Live so maybe Santa will come good again this year.

Then it can be anything from a wander through the St. Enoch's centre or up to Buchanan Galleries, never seriously looking for anything and really just passing the time.

We always end up in W.H. Smith's where Jac looks for some TV series magazine like Star Trek or Cult Times and I get a fortnightly copy of Web User and look wistfully through the sound and vision mags.

The Christmas light pixies have been busy this year and there are several really well lit up houses on the way home. I'm definitely going to take the camera with me over the next few weeks as some of them are really over the top.