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Saturday 12 December 2009

Have I Sold Out?

As a geeky lover on technology, I do love a good gadget. There are people who are obsessed with all things Apple, but I wasn't one of them. Until now that is.

I was recently working with quite a few of these obsesive types and some of it seems to have rubbed off. On Wednesday, after much careful consideration, I bought myself an iPhone 3GS. It wasn't cheap, but I'm extremely impressed and haven't put it down since. In fact I'm writing this blog on it now.

How sad and I? LOL

Regards
Chris
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Sent from my iPhone

Thursday 1 October 2009

Wednesday 1 July 2009

The Camden Triangle

A colleague and I are currently working night shift on an LUL Signalling project in London. We must have really annoyed some one in the company, as we are on permanent nights for the whole of the summer. In fact we haven’t been to our Croydon Office since February this year. Although we haven’t actually been anywhere near Coventry, we both feel as if that’s where we’ve been sent. However, in the current economic climate at least we can say we still have our jobs where many thousands of others don’t. Of that I’m very grateful indeed.

One thing that we have noticed while in London is that my colleagues TomTom Go700 SatNav keeps drawing us into the one way systems round Camden and refuses to let us out again. The SatNav constantly tries to send us the wrong way down one-way streets, making it very difficult to get out of the area. On our first visit we managed to drive round Mornington Crescent tube station at least five times!!!!

I can only assume that the road directions in Camden have been changed since he last updated his maps about two years ago. We have since avoided the area at all costs.

The moral of this story is –

Don’t forget to regularly update your SatNav’s mapping information.

You have been warned.

Regards



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Monday 4 May 2009

We're On A Road To Nowhere


After months of not being able to ride my bike due to lack of time, work commitments and financial constraints, I’ve finally got my beloved CBF1000 back on the road. In fact since November 2008 I’ve gone from being an everyday hairy arsed biker type covering 12,000 miles a year to a virtual non-rider. In that period from November to May I think I’ve ridden no more than 200 miles.

However, just before Easter I had my bike serviced and hoped to get out that weekend. The trouble was that the service showed up a rear brake problem. The pads where right on the limit and needed changing immediately, but unfortuantly I was unable to get replacements in time. I finally managed to hunt down the required pads last Friday and I fitted them on Saturday.

On Sunday morning, Pablos and I set off at last for our much anticipated trip. The plan was to ride to Bury Hill, hoping to meet up with like minded members of the World famous Bury Hill Bikers. We had travelled about 8 miles from my place, when Pablos pulled into a layby. One of his rear indicators had stopped working, so we set about fixing it at the road side. It didn’t take too long to cure, but that’s when the real fun started.

His bike failed to start and refused all attempts to persuade it into life. Even the usual push start wasn’t working this time around. We spent the next hour and a half sitting at the side of the road watching the world go by, until his Wife arrived by car with jump leads and more tools.

It took under a minute to get his bike fired up and there was just enough time left for a quick dash to his place for tea before I made the short journey home.

It wasn’t how either of us had intended to spend our Sunday morning and I felt really bad for him as he was probably blaming himself for messing up the ride. I tried my best to put him at ease and after all, we did get out and have a laugh. Missing out on our now customary “Bikers Breakfast” probably won’t do us any harm either.

Next time I’ll make sure he’s packed jump leads before we set off 8-)


Regards



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Friday 13 February 2009

Women Pays £50 to Call Off Contract on Husband

A Turkish Cypriot Woman from Tottenham North London was depressed and fed-up with her Husband, she decided to have an affair. While chatting to a fellow Mum at her child's school, the other women suggested that she have her husband murdered. The disgruntled Wife though it was a good idea and arranged to pay the other woman and her friend £800 to carryout the deadly deed.

The following day, the Wife was feeling a bit guilty and decided to tell her husband about her affair and the contract she took took out on him. I get the impression that he was a little miffed about it and asked his Wife to cancel the contract, which she duly did. The really funny part is that her friend demanded a cancellation fee of £50.

The woman was given an a 10 month sentence suspended for 2 years, but her friend and the hired murderer got off Scott free. They claimed that they never intended to carryout the murder and were "Just testing her resolve". Fleecing a very stupid women more like!!!!

If there is anyone reading this who is in a similar situation, may I suggest divorce as any less risky alternative.

Original Article from BBC News - Life lessons for death plot wife

Regards



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Monday 2 February 2009

Proof That It Does Snow in Sussex


Yesterday it started snowing here and it has continued since then. This morning the Schools are closed, the roads are blocked and the Railway is at a stand still. No chance of getting to work today. Therefore I have used my time productively and completed something I have wanted to do for the passed 12 years.

I’ve finally built my Son a Snowman 8-)

Regards



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Monday 19 January 2009

Are We To Become a Communist State?

Over the last few months the British Government have spent insane amounts of money trying to bail out the banking system here. Only today the "Westminster Muppet Show" have decided to cover the losses of the Royal Bank of Scotland to the tune of £20bn. I have no idea how many zeros that is.

This means that the "WMS" now owns about 70% of the RBoS. This includes mortgages, loans, credit card debit, the lot. As we all know, this situation is repeated at many more of our banks. Therefore, this means that the Government now owns much of the countries assets.

Communism anyone?

Regards



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Sunday 4 January 2009

Saxophone - Brass or Woodwind?

My Son today asked me to describe Jazz Music. Not being an expert or fan of Jazz, I described it as music predominantly comprising of piano and brass instruments.

This got me thinking about whether a Saxophone was a brass or woodwind instrument. My logic told me that despite being made of brass, it uses a reed to produce the sound. Therefore it must be woodwind. My wife disagreed (as wives often do) saying that it's a brass instrument.

The solution was to ask that fountain of all knowledge - Wikipedia. This is what it said,

The saxophone (commonly referred to simply as sax) is a conical-bored transposing musical instrument considered a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and are played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by Adolphe Sax in 1841, and patented in 1846 in two groups of seven instruments each. Each series consisted of instruments of various sizes in alternating transposition. The series pitched in B and E, designed for military bands, has proved extremely popular and most saxophones encountered today are from this series. A few saxophones remain from the less popular orchestral series pitched in C and F.
This just goes to prove just how good my logic is. Either that or my mind is full of useless information. I know which my Wife thinks!

Wikipedia Link - Saxophone

Regards



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Welcome to 2009

Where did 2008 go? A quick "WHOOSH" and it was gone before I knew it!

It was an rather turbulent year for me. I start the New Year with renewed confidence in my heart and I'm determined not to let life get the better of me anymore.

All I have to do now is get my finger out and embrace the coming year with renew vigour.

Time will tell if I manage it 8-)

However, something never change and my spelling remain as awful as ever. Thank goodness for spell checkers!

Regards



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