Sunday, October 18, 2015

Retro Game Boys Episode 1 - Action Biker (Commodore 64)

Well, it's been a long time coming but episode 1 of Retro Game Boys is now online.

The idea of our new YouTube channel is for me to introduce Kieran to some of the games I was playing when I was his age and growing up, and to see what his opinion are of them in a world of XBoxes and PlayStations.

"Join the Retro Game Boys as they review and play games from yesterday.  In episode 1, Stuart introduces his son Kieran to the wonders of Action Biker - A classic Mastertronic game on the Commodore 64 from 1985.  Grab yourselves a pack of KP Skips and enjoy!"


 
To be notified of future episodes, please subscribe to us on Youtube, follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook!
  
TWITTER : https://twitter.com/RetroGameBoys
YOUTUBE : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyrzqpPlew1UqDlUyCQN0qg (we'll get a custom address when we have enough views)
 
We also have a web site at www.retrogameboys.co.uk

Sunday, September 13, 2015

Say Yes To The Dress

Interesting fact...  As I write this, it has been exactly 4432 days, 9 hours, 17 minutes and 55 seconds since our wedding

Enough of that.  Today, we managed to get Michelle's wedding dress out of storage from her Grandparents attic and have brought it to its new permanent home - ours!!  Obviously, the girls got excited and wanted to wear it.  Sophie has already said that she wants to wear it on her Wedding day.








Monday, August 17, 2015

Tis Good, Yar...

Sorry for the lack of updates lately, but as promised in my last post, here is a more in-depth reason to my neglecting the Captains Blog. 

It's been a bit of a whirlwind couple of weeks/months and lots of things have been going on that has meant I haven't had the time to concentrate on this blog.  It's not a shock to anyone who knows me that I've been suffering sever depression for quite some time, and although occasionally I have good days, the majority of them have been bad. 

However, things have been looking up recently and I genuinely feel as though we (the family) have been given a shedload of good fortune.  Of course, I haven't discovered a miracle cure for depression, and I do still have occasional lows but it's always nice when many things happen to work in your favour all at once.  It all started with a pay rise at work, then Michelle gaining her qualification to become an accredited nail manicurist a few months ago, leading to her starting her own business (www.at-your-fingertips.co.uk) which is proving to be quite a success, to finally being able to afford a larger, bigger and better house and move away from the hell hole that is/was Coronation Street in Evesham.

Anyway, with the school summer holiday now in its 5th week, I've got 3 more weeks to get a ton of jobs done in time for when term starts on the 7th September.  Fortunately this year has not been as stressful as last year - as some of you may remember, last year was one hell of a nightmare getting the two school networks merged in to one on time.  I definitely lost a few years of my life (and some hair) from that one!

Anyway, there you have it.  Yes, I know life has its ups and downs, and the pessimist in me does not expect this to last, but life is fantastic at the moment.  Long may it last.

Monday, August 10, 2015

Commodore Plus 4 Gets a Service

Hello again!  Sorry for the lack of posts recently.  I will explain why in another post shortly.

Anyway, the reason for posting today is because of a little project I've been doing to restore my Mum and Dad's faulty Commodore Plus 4 (which they have so kindly given to me - Another one to the collection!).

This one only had a faulty 8501 CPU which I was able to replace thanks to a working spare that I fortunately had in another damaged Plus 4. 


Today, I got some more heatsinks to put on the chips. Stuck down with some thermal adhesive.... That should mainly keep the MOS8360 TED and MOS8501 CPU cooler. It's amazing how hot these old chips get. It's been on for nearly two hours now and the temperature is definitely cooler than usual. Hopefully it will prolong the life of this 30 year old computer.

Oh that, and a nice clean with some IPA solvent, leaving the motherboard a tad bit cleaner than it was too.


Happy happy!

Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Sitting on my bum... Because I have to.

Here's an interesting article in the news today...

"There has been "an alarming increase" in the number of working-age people suffering strokes, with unhealthy lifestyles being seen as the main cause." They mention television and computer games (as they always do).

These news reports annoy me.  They're very quick at criticising those who sit on their bums all day, watching TV or playing computer games.

The problem isn't watching TV or playing computer games.  I love playing computer games...  I always have and always will, and that will never change.  I'm a computer nerd, however I spend 8 hours of the day sat in front of a computer not playing computer games because it's my job.  YES, THAT'S RIGHT, the majority of my day is spent in front of a computer because I have too - I make a living from it.  Is that any different to sitting at home playing games?  Why not mention that when writing these articles since so many of us have to sit at work?

So if the chances of me suffering a stroke are increased because of that, maybe I should get danger pay?  After all, what they are saying is that my job is dangerous to my health.

Also, if they're going to whinge at those watching TV as well, why not have a go at those who sit on their bums and read books....  play board games....  draw/paint...  etc.?

Sitting on our bums doing things is a part of life!  How easy it is to single out TV and computers for the health problems of today.

Friday, May 01, 2015

Moving Right Along...

It was inevitable...  It had to happen eventually...  We're moving house! (again)


For the 5th (and hopefully final time) in 13 years, we've decided that our current house is just too small for such a large family, and are now moving from a tiny 3 bedroom terraced house which barely has enough room to swing a cat, to a detached 4 bedroom family house.

So as I write this, I am surrounded with lots of cardboard boxes and not stressing too much (at the moment).  We get the keys to the new house next week, and don't have to be out of our current one until the end of the month.  Fortunately this means we'll have a good couple of weeks to gradually get stuff moved to the new house.

So, what are the benefits of the new home....  Well, other than the extra space, I can think of a few immediately....

TWO TOILETS!  Oh yes.  No more will there be queues to take a pee in the morning.  No longer will I have to endure Kieran, Kayleigh or Sophie asking to go to the toilet whilst I quickly cover myself in bubbles to avoid embarrassment in the bath tub.  See, something you'd think would be standard for most families these days is still lacking in many houses.

The living room in the new house is over twice the size of our current one.  We struggle with the limited space we have at the moment - not for much longer!

Strangely, even after gaining an extra bedroom, you'd think the girls would like a room each...  Nope.  Sophie and Kayleigh want to carry on sharing, meaning we'll have a spare room for visitors and storage.

A driveway for several cars.  No more will I have to worry about people blocking my driveway when we go away.

Of course, the best thing of all is that I get my own Man Cave.  A place where I can display my Star Trek memorabilia with pride (and without embarrassing Michelle), and a place where I can set up my retro computers and game consoles.

Here's some piccies of the new house (minus a few of the bedrooms).

The main hallway, dining room, and open plan stairs leading up to the 4 bedrooms and upstairs bathroom.
 
The living room

The master bedroom (not too keen on the mirrors!)

Kayleigh and Sophie's bedroom, plus the landing leading to the bathroom.

Bathroom

Downstairs study.  Michelle is using this room for when doing nails and girly stuff

Kitchen

Kitchen
 
The Man Room (ahem) Utility Room.

The Man Room (ahem) Utility Room.

The back garden.  It needs a bit of de-weeding, but the estate agents said they would do it for us before we move in.  How nice.

I admit, we will be a little sad to say goodbye to the old house.  We've been here for nearly 10 years, and have watched Kieran grow.  He was only 10 months old when we moved in, and now he's 10 years old!

Oh well.... Back to more packing.