My life in France

HTTP Server Error 503

No available server to handle this request

Yes it's gone down again. No access on a Saturday night to all the people you normal chat with.

How can this of happened again?

Check back here later & I'll have the answer.

Update from twitter..

What is a denial-of-service (DoS) attack?

The most common and obvious type of DoS attack occurs when an attacker "floods" a network with information. When you type a URL for a particular web site into your browser, you are sending a request to that site's computer server to view the page. The server can only process a certain number of requests at once, so if an attacker overloads the server with requests, it can't process your request. This is a "denial of service" because you can't access that site.

An attacker can use spam email messages to launch a similar attack on your email account. Whether you have an email account supplied by your employer or one available through a free service such as Yahoo or Hotmail, you are assigned a specific quota, which limits the amount of data you can have in your account at any given time. By sending many, or large, email messages to the account, an attacker can consume your quota, preventing you from receiving legitimate messages.

A denial-of-service attack (DoS attack) or distributed denial-of-service attack (DDoS attack) is an attempt to make a computer resource unavailable to its intended users. Although the means to carry out, motives for, and targets of a DoS attack may vary, it generally consists of the concerted efforts of a person or persons to prevent an Internet site or service from functioning efficiently or at all, temporarily or indefinitely. Perpetrators of DoS attacks typically target sites or services hosted on high-profile web servers such as banks, credit card payment gateways, and even root nameservers.

One common method of attack involves saturating the target (victim) machine with external communications requests, such that it cannot respond to legitimate traffic, or responds so slowly as to be rendered effectively unavailable. In general terms, DoS attacks are implemented by either forcing the targeted computer(s) to reset, or consuming its resources so that it can no longer provide its intended service or obstructing the communication media between the intended users and the victim so that they can no longer communicate adequately.

Denial-of-service attacks are considered violations of the IAB's Internet Proper Use Policy, and also violate the Acceptable Use Policies of virtually all Internet Service Providers. They also commonly constitute violations of the laws of individual nations.^[1]

Swine Fever, Swine Fever, Swine Fever, yes the kids know what pigs are but when they were told that a pig can be called a swine they started to ask the normal question which is "why is it called swine"

5 tons of sand, 20 sacks of cement & 55 square meters of crazy paving.

Should we change the clocks each year.

8:30 pm to 9:30 pm tonight March 28 2009 is when we should all turn our lights off to save money & energy. And reduce the amount of CO2 used.

My wife told me that "my horosope was very bad for this week".

I have made it through day 3 of the kitchen installation, just. It's supplied with instructions written in Jovian by a little man in Japan who has no concept of what a kitchen unit should look like.

The kitchen is out of it's boxes............but still not completely installed. Perhaps tomorrow.

No pictures today  I have spent the day ripping out the old kitchen & time is getting on.

Easter's not far away & you are already thinking of your holiday. But you need to know, is it going to be Spanish weather in the UK or is it going to be UK weather in Spain.

Last week Facebook got some bad press along with other social networking sites. So I decided to give it a try.

This morning, after the kids had gone to school, my wife ran upstairs to the office to check on her twitter updates.

So you get into the hospital room of a celeb, there's no one around & you have a hammer. Then the celebrity starts to scream for help & the nurse comes who then calls security, then the police & the person with the hammer is arrested. Charged with possession of an offensive weapon. All straight forward for the police. Clearly some nutter on the loose. Caught red handed or hammer handed which ever way you see it.

Yes it's Sunday evening & normally it would be roast chicken, pork, lamb or beef. But not today. Today it's Duck. Juicy, tasty, succulent roast duck. So this post is going to be short because I can't wait. So short in fact that's it, bye.

A few of days ago I signed up with twitter to follow the celeb team climbing Kilimanjaro for comic relief. I explained the object of the site ("what are you doing")  to my wife who thought it was good for friends & family, until she signed herself up & found a number of celebs like Phillip Schofield who she likes also twitters frequently. We are both now completely hooked. So much so that we have downloaded the best software ever invented, "tweetdeck". You will be amazed at what celebs are up to. We are. I have even put my "twitter updates" at the bottom of this blog page. Give it a try, you'll be hooked.

I have just finished (well almost) the new website for our gite.

Today talking about what went on, on the QE2 has taken a rear seat (but just for today).

THE QE2.

Yesterday I was talking about having kids & the things they say.

Today I thought it might be a good idea to tell you about life pre kids. On the left you can see a picture of the "QE2". Many many years ago I worked on board this ship as a petty officer. It was on board this ship that I met my wife.

She was pure white with a black & red bottom (I'm talking about the ship now) . When I arrived at Southampton docks the first day & saw her for the first time, she took my breath away (I'm talking about my wife now). She was so tall against the cranes (still my wife). The ship was also very high, I had never been this close to a ship so big before & it was a little bit scary. We set sail that day, it was the first Atlantic crossing of the year after the world cruise. 5 days after leaving Southampton I would be in New York. In fact it was more like after 5 days heaving that I reached New York. I always thought it was in films that people went green with sea sickness, but I was wrong. I was so bad that I had to visit the ship doctor, who gave me an injection (that had to be injected into my bum cheek) since then I have never been sea sick again. Although I did get a lot of the crew asking if the doctor "had given me a prick in the bum". The answer to this question changed depending on who had asked it. Anyway back to the topic of this post "meeting my wife" & "the QE2". The story is long, funny & sun drenched. In future posts I will explain all the tales, floods, passengers, rubber & jubilee clips, even the one about how it helped that she had a smooth bottom (the ship by the way).

On the right is a photo scan of my new (& first) nephew. It's alot clearer than the scans my wife had when she was pregnant with the twins. It was like an 85 year old on drugs drawing on an etch-a-sketch. But as you can see, you can clearly make out the head, nose, mouth & arm. He also looks like he's scratching his head. (just like my brother). Kids are wonderful at stating the obvious, embarrassing you in front of strangers & family & making you fall over laughing.

It's sunny, It's warm & the French papers say that spring will be ending on Monday.
I don't care. I sat on the terrace this afteroon, took my jumper off & my brilliant white skin blinded everyone.
No it was a very nice, 18c in the shade & if the French papers are correct that spring is ending on Monday then that means summer is next, or have I missed something.
As a standby, I have lit the wood burner & turned the heating on for the evening.
I have also decided to cook the family Mexican chicken fajitas tonight for a bit of internal central heating.
Normaly anything spicy I cook starts with hot mouth, hot throat, hot stomach & in the morning you melt the toilet.
But I have promissed the kids I will not to go to hot tonight, because normally every time I do chilli for them, the shares for Andrex double the next day.
I'll let you know tomorrow how it went.

Heres a question for ya. Last week after we bought a lottery ticket, my wife said "please god let us win". 

Both Google & NASA are having a bad day.

It's pancake day  or shrove Tuesday if you prefer tomorrow 24th Feb.

Many celebrities invite the press & media into their lives when they have something to promote, new single, new film, new program etc. Then when the press & media continue to follow them after the promotion, they get very upset & call it intrusion.

Yes it’s that day again. We all dream of it all week.

The french news today is about Damien Meslot the UMP member of Belfort receiving a 700 euro fine & calling the magistrate a "gaucho de merde" (i’ll let you translate that).

And the second most popular story is, how busy the roads will be this weekend as the schools are be back on Monday.

The weather in France at the moment is sunny & warm. Not hot, but nice sat on the terrace with a glass of something. The evenings are still cold, but the log fire is alight & it’s nice & warm indoors. I feel a visit to the beach this weekend with the kids & dog might be coming up.

How many times have you sat there in front of your computer after checking your blog & seen the "next blog" button. You hit it & then you hit it again & again & again until eventually you hit upon a blog written in English. You read it & then you're back to the next blog button. I do it all the time. Sometimes I start clicking it at 6pm & before I know it it's 8pm. Addictive?, maybe.

After watching the old videos yesterday & watching some old comedy programs. I found a piece of classic British comedy on youtube "Morecambe and Wise breakfast". It's been years since i've seen it, but still made me laugh out loud. Today on UK television there is an advert for PG Tips tea bags, which is an up to date version of this classic. But will never be as good as the original.

I've been transferring some old videos from cassette onto DVD today. Mainly videos of the kids when they were young. It's amazing what you forget you recorded all those years ago. Watching them back, you realise just how young they once were. & if the camera happens to swing around onto you, then you think "my god where did that person go".

I forgot to say that I think I have nearly finished the barn to gite blog. If you can leave any comments or ask any questions, that would be great.

Why was Melinda Messenger in the bottom two again. She's not a great skater I agree, but apart from Ray Quinn non of the others are either. But they're not supposed to be are they. They are "celebs" who are doing this for entertainment, our entertainment. They all began as novices, & as far as I can see, they are now good skaters. (I don't include Todd Carty in this group by the way). He brought a whole different kind of entertainment to us. As far as I can see, Melinda seems like a very nice, bubbly, down to earth type of person who is trying hard to entertain us & is always smiling & up for a challenge. There are others on the show that burst into tears as soon as the camera is pointed at them. When you are a novice, falling over is part of learning. If you don't fall you don't learn.

It's Sunday, the kids have got their friends here for the afternoon. I think they've invited everyone they know. My eldest is online with his xbox & ipod, his friend is online with his psp. My youngest son & his friends are online in the office upstairs & my daughter is online in her bedroom to all of her friends. I am now online on the laptop. If for any reason the broadband to the west of France melts down then it's because it's Sunday & it's the school holidays, not anything to do with me. I'm just glad that we haven't got a download limit for broadband or it would cost thousands.

Today we have been ice skating, the first time. The picture you see on the left is the only one that we took that had all the family in, & all the rest were blurred due to the high speed of the kids on the ice. After half an hour the twins were skating backwards & doing spins, the eldest was happy to skate around with me & keep out of trouble (good idea). After an hour the twins were doing double axels & triple toe loops, & after two hours they were asked to leave. "There is a time & place for that sort of thing" the man explained. "It's a public ice rink during the school holidays, you shouldn't be surprised if theres a little blood on the ice" the twins said in protest. It was cold & I don't think we will be allowed back, now as I type this I ache in places that I didn't know I had, but it was good fun. The next time we are going to try roller skating as this doesn't require any ice & therefore must be warmer, unless of course the rink is outside. Lets hope the people that run it are more forgiving.

OK OK it,s the 13th of February, & that means that tomorrow is the 14th. You all know what that means, holy shit I forgot (again). Sorry for any spelling mistakes but i'm in a rush.