The banner photos are all from various tramps I have done. I try and find a nice photo which isn’t too busy and then use the Gimp to take a 1680×180 slice out of it. The problem is finding a feature wide enough. Normally I go to the hi-res image, take a crop from there, resize it down to 1680 and then crop off the excess top and bottom to give the 180 height. I’ve tried stretching and repeating images, but that doesn’t work well. I do create a repeating background image to go behind the banner, and when I get that right I achieve the cool infinitely wide banner which looks good if you have a monitor which displays more that 1680 pixels of my web page.

I used to use the Random Image Selector by Keith Murray to display the banner, since then I’ve coded it into my WordPress and MoinMoin themes. It’s pretty simple code, but Keith’s plugin is an easy way to test if you like the idea on your blog. One day I must get my themes packaged nicely so I can share them.

Click on the images below to see the original photos they were cropped from

Jackson Peaks, across Lake Te Anau, Fiordland, Feb 2006.

West Ruggedy Beach, Stewart Island, Feb 2006.

West Ruggedy Beach, Stewart Island, Feb 2006.

Long Harry Bay, Stewart Island, Feb 2006.

Tongariro, Ngauruhoe and Ruapehu from Mt Taranaki, Feb 2007.

Waiaua Gorge, Taranaki, Feb 2007.

Lake Ada, Milford Track, Fiordland, May 2007.

Rangitoto, New Years Eve, Dec 2007.

Rangitoto, New Years Eve, Dec 2007.

Dart River, Mount Aspiring National Park, Feb 2008.

Oliver is now on 8 units of insulin in the morning and 7 at night and seems to be doing ok on this high dosage. I’ll have to take him back to the vet for more blood tests next week. He’s pretty settled in our new digs. We’ve been here for a full week now and he’s pretty comfortable though it requires a much bigger jump to get up onto this bed than my old futon.

It’s good now I’ve finally moved, been a busy few days…
Tues: Vet visit
Weds: Moved all my furniture and a heap of my stuff to my sister’s garage. I can recommend Busby Carriers if you’re moving.
Thurs: Tidying up, and moving more stuff.
Fri: Got the carpets cleaned. Recommend Jae for that.
Sat: More cleaning. Poetry Slam @ London Bar with Tim.
Sun: Farewell lunch with Cip & co @ GBs.  He is off to climb mountains in the South Island, Canada, and South America.
Mon: Final inspection and handover of keys to the old flat
Tues: Nothing much, dinner @ Kiwi Country Noodles and TV. Phone and internet started working.
Weds: Went and saw “In the shadow of the Moon” at the Rialto. Had a couple of beers afterwards.
Thurs: Tonight … just another quiet night at home.

l’ve now got ADSL connected and working in my apartment! l’M writing this with the N8OO, My laptop is back at work. Proper update very soon.

Had a house warming in my new lounge, aka the London Bar. Followed by an inspection of the apartment and then pizza at Pizza Pizza.

Came home to Vector playing with the lamppost outside my flat, still trying to work out what they’re up to.

Oliver’s diabetes still isn’t under control. Took him in on Monday morning for yet another round of tests and when I picked him up in the afternoon learned his glucose is still too high, though it is measurable. The vet who was filling in (Chrissie/Jenny?) didn’t want to make a change, so for now he is staying on 6 units and Mike is going to call me sometime about the options. She suggested

1. change him to a new type of synthetic insulin and try and find the right dose on that (that’s her preference)
2. increase his dose to 7 or 8 units (most cats only need about 2 units so this is getting quite high)
3. try and change his diet, though she thought his current diet of k/d biscuits with the odd Wiskas single is ok

Here’s me giving Oliver his insulin shot this morning:

I need to shave now.