Cup Of Coffee

That’s it. I’ve seen everything now..

admin — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 23:06:44 +0000

I can’t really explain this one properly. It’s footage of a lorry on a motorway in Yorkshire. It’s pushing a car along the A1(M) quite happily and, according to reports, the driver of the lorry knew nothing about the car wedged on the front.

The video was taken by someone in a car that was OVERTAKEN by the lorry. You can see the driver of the Renault Clio vainly trying to press the brakes. Everyone was fine at the end of this ordeal and the lorry driver has no clue how it happened..

Link – telegraph.co.uk – YouTube.com

Google Street View, now with added coverage!

admin — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 10:20:46 +0000

Hey UK!

Check Google Maps Street View. Your house is probably now on, much greater coverage now LIVE – http://www.google.co.uk/maps

I’ve checked my house, it’s weird – my wife is indeed on the image, just as I mentioned in my earlier blog post!

Jelly Babies – Wobbly Lollies. Err….

admin — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 07:17:55 +0000

Last night we were having dinner. Our son, Billy, wanted a lollipop and went over to the freezer to let us know. He loves lollipops, so we’d bought him these…

We’ve never had them before, but after seeing him eating one it’s warped my tiny little mind. Me and Emily had one too – they’re an almost rubbery substance and to be honest don’t taste very nice. Somehow they bend even when frozen, I presume because there’s more “rubber” than water. Either way, they soon looked pretty ….errmm… “phallic”….

Tornado Tales

admin — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 12:41:47 +0000

1 – Why are these houses still built from wood?

2 – Storm chasers. Nutters.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8557015.stm

Sierra Cosworth RS500 – Buy one

admin — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 22:56:53 +0000

Sure. A top speed of 154mph and a 0-60 mph of 6.2 seconds may not sound supersonic by todays standards, but in 1987 (when D and E reg cars were around) something amazing happened – 500 Sierra Cosworth cars rolled off the production line. They were very special and had 224bhp a lot for 1987. There’s more information here but you can see one below in a car showroom back in 1987. Only a few RS500’s were made, making them very sought after. Note the price..

One has just come up for sale. It’s been in storage for the last 10 years and is in absolutely mint condition. You can get more info here or buy it for… 25K. Yep, a little more than 1987 but this is a classic car. Many readers and will no doubt hold very special memories the the whole XR3i / RS Turbo / Cosworth era..

I fought the law and the law won

admin — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 10:30:00 +0000

If you’ve got some time to spare, I’d like to heartily recommend the 27bslash6.com website. Apart from random YouTube comments and forum flames, the web is now becoming quite “PC” with websites often targeted for mentioning anything even slightly illegal, even in jest.

The post today, called “5PM” is an amazing piece of work and well worth checking out. The guy behind this site often writes hilarious emails to people and is probably most well known for his infamous spider mail. Definitely check it out.

Links – 27bslash6.com – “5PM“

In a wired world – should we turn off more?

admin — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 13:20:16 +0000

Sometimes whilst travelling you can overhear discussions which are really interesting. I’m in one of those situations right now. I’m at an airport somewhere in the world and there’s some people behind me from… another country. I’ll not mention the country, but let’s see if you can guess.

For the last 50 minutes I have listened to two gentlemen talk about their sleep patterns. One has mentioned his doctors’ advice and is now on some prescription medication to allow him to sleep. The other is discussing several different types of medication he feels would work better. Both seem to get no more than 4-5 hours of sleep per night and its beginning to have an affect on their health. This is a discussion that many people have probably had, although not between men and not for this length of time… not usually.

In this world of high-stress jobs with demanding hours it’s already difficult to rest. Some take sleep medication, some have a drink. Others suffer. Now things are even worse. Constant 24/7 communication is already possible and many are given mobile devices with their job. Although its not explicitly mentioned, there’s an expectation for you to respond to that out-of-hours email instantly. The result is usually a phone vibrating, ringing or beeping right in the middle of your “down time”. A family meal, a birthday party, perhaps even a holiday.

I think sometimes, especially now that information is changing second-by-second, people are becoming a little worried about missing something, and it doesn’t even have to be something important.

Twitter is already bringing instant data feeds. The updates may seem uninteresting to many, but for the most part they suck you in. You suddenly NEED to know whether Bob finished that shed. You HAVE to find out if Lucy bought the red dress or the green one.

Facebook is an even bigger example. Updates, like Twitter, are fed into the site by your friends. You can chat, view pictures and see what they’ve been doing. You can also get yourself into trouble. Many relationships are strained after a past boyfriend or girlfriend makes contact.

So, when you’re about to doze off, some are worried about what they’re missing. Downstairs is the laptop and the phone.. sitting quietly, getting the latest Facebook updates, the latest emails, Tweets and texts. Your missing it. You’re going to miss it. You won’t be up to date.

Sleep seems unimportant.

This alone might not contribute to a lack of sleep, but combined with the sheer addiction of being connected and always available, it can cause problems.

What is the solution ? Are powerful drugs the answer? Or should we just turn everything off ? Yes. Turn it off. That’s the best solution, and it’s easy enough to do. The problem is that its all too easy to turn back on again.

Having a separation between work life and home life is important. Having a separation between your internet life and your family is even more important.

Flying around Europe

admin — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 16:14:23 +0000

Well, I have to say one thing straight off. Swiss Airlines are pretty fantastic. I’ve never flown with them before but the whole process of boarding, getting secured and taking off was faultless, smooth and polished.

However.. I’ve got to admit that I’m a child. I’m actually typing this whilst on board the Fokker 100 and, somehow, I felt a little smile appear on my face when the stewardess said, “Welcome on board this Fokker …. ”

Is that a bad thing ?

I’ll also tell you about the airport. I doubt this will be interesting to everyone but I want to make sure that I remember this.

I arrived at the airport and checked in. The lovely lady then told me I was in the wrong queue. “You’re in Business Class, Sir. You need to go through the priority channel at security. The Business lounges are here…”

Wha? Business Class? I felt privileged and embarrassed all at the same time, although I think the latter is a British trait. I went up to security and saw a huge throng of people squashed together – all waiting to go through the no-shoes scanning and padding. I felt weird. A man ushered me through an empty section where the words “Priority Channel” hung above. Again, I felt a little guilty. I wanted to reach across to the families that had saved all year for their week in the sun. “Come with me little ones, I’ll get you out of the crowd”… but no.

A lady waved me through, I was ushered through security like some sort of Diplomat and into the Departure lounge and told, “Business lounge that way Sir”

No. No, no, NO!

I’m common as muck damn it, and proud! I’m sitting here with everyone else. The Business Lounge isn’t my place and it never will be.

The laptop has taken another hit

admin — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 23:35:14 +0000

My poor laptops. Whatever laptop I have, it gets such a battering. This Vaio has taken some serious punishment over the years, but I’m perhaps a little different to some geeks / techy people. Why? Well, I get attached to things. This laptop has served me well over the years. A RAM upgrade and a fresh Windows 7 install has given it a fresh lease of life and I really don’t see any reason to buy another one.

Billy likes it too and he decided to rip the DVD / CD ROM out the other day. It’s beyond repair because the ribbon cable got snapped in two. Where the drive was is now a huge hole. I guess it adds ventilation. When you have kids you quickly learn that things will get broken, so this isn’t a big deal. He did a pretty decent job actually – you can take a look up close if you want.

Link – flickr.com

So I got my insurance renewal..

admin — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 23:25:37 +0000

So it’s that time of year again when the car insurance renewal comes through. About this time two years ago I succumbed to the constant advertising from comparison websites such as Go Compare, Compare the Market and so on.

After a few sweeps I found a really cheap quote with “Marks and Spencer Car Insurance”, which is just Budget Car Insurance under a different name. I signed up because they were way cheaper than my renewal price.

Then I had the accident. I found out that the insurers didn’t give me a courtesy car and wouldn’t pick me up after the accident either. Rubbish. I decided to change when renewal was up. I did, and this time I went direct with Direct Line. No kick-backs are paid to the comparison site and you get a better deal. It ended up being a very good deal – about 100 quid less than I was paying.

Now this year the renewal quote has come through again. This time Direct Line want 460 quid for my Audi A4 SLine. It’s a good price, but I wanted to check, so I’ve just been back on the comparison sites and yet again no-one is coming close. What’s worse is what happens if you look down the other end of the scale – some insurers are offering insane prices. How do they get away with charging nearly 2 grand?!