Police in North Wales have taken to hiding their camera equipment in a horsebox according to this news article .
Have a read and have a laugh! They can't catch crooks and now they prove that they can't catch motorists without resorting to camouflage tactics. The only speedsters they will catch are the ones that are as stupid as they are.... You know, the ones that go outside to smoke in the fresh air and use mobile phones while driving. They deserve to get caught anyway!
Monday 31 March 2008
What a week!
What a week! 24th Wedding anniversary, Suzie’s birthday followed by my birthday. Suzie had the week off work as holiday – we should have been going away to Scotland for a few days but with me on a 3 month fixed term contract that wasn’t possible. Mark was home from university (as was his girlfriend) so the 3 of them went and spent Suzie’s birthday in Manchester which meant Suzie got to spend some of the birthday money she’d received. My weekend started Friday night with a visit to see my GP who prescribed some anti-biotics, which meant that on my birthday weekend I couldn’t drink alcohol – Doh! I then had to give a blood sample on Saturday morning at the Walk In Clinic to be tested for sugar levels.
Saturday night we went out with friends and I was supposed to be drinking, but, as I couldn’t I drove and let Dave drink. The meal we had at The Bear at Alderwasley was excellent, a little pricey but excellent. For a little traditional pub out in the sticks it was packed and exceeded expectations. Highly recommended, but, you do have to book up well in advance if you intend to eat.
Andy finally got his hands on a replacement differential for his W30 model BMW 320 and has more or less finished fitting the sound system to his girlfriend’s Ford Ka (I think the sound system is more powerful than the engine). The diff will get fitted this coming weekend I suspect as it is currently sitting outside by the back door.
Mother is in real need of a break from caring for Dad, and although in good spirits this weekend she is so obviously very tired. Currently we are waiting on Social Services doing a needs assessment of them as a couple because in the past they have only ever assessed Dad. Hopefully there will be some movement along those lines now that Easter is out of the way – it always seems that Social Services staff get twice the annual leave of everybody else (barring politicians).
For my birthday I got a good showing of cards, a number of phone calls (including Angie & John) and a couple of emails all wishing me well. On top of that there were a number of messages on the DeauvilleUK web forum – nice people those Deauville riders. Presents were a widescreen monitor (to replace my aging 17” CRT monitor) which makes my old mini tower PC look a lot better than it actually is, a pressure washer (the old one had an impellor problem and was virtually dead on it’s wheels) and a bottle of scotch (thanks Dave, just got to get off the antibiotics now). Sunday saw Steve come round and we removed the near side door card and fitted the replacement speaker panel I’ve had sitting around for 4 weeks now since father-in-law stuck his walking stick through the old one.
Talking of the in-laws, mother-in-law was told last week that she needs a new knee and will have to go into hospital for the operation. She should have been having a series of steroid injections, but, because she doesn’t like injections she didn’t bother. Now she says that if she’d known that by not having the injections she would have to have an operation, then she would have had the injections. What did she expect? That it would heal itself? Now she’s all in a panic that father-in-law won’t be able to visit her because the hospital is 30 miles away, and, that there will be nobody to look after him. She’s forgetting that Janice (Suzie’s older sister) doesn’t work so she could bring her girlfriend up, stay with her father, tend to him and ferry him around. But, as they didn’t remember our wedding anniversary and have told us to stay away from father-in-law’s 80th birthday celebrations in a couple of weeks time because Janice & Dawn will be there, then there’s no way Suzie or I will be taking time off work (unpaid) to be at their beck and call (and we don’t have holiday entitlement in hand to cover it).
If you think kids are bad, just wait until you have to look after old folk!
Saturday night we went out with friends and I was supposed to be drinking, but, as I couldn’t I drove and let Dave drink. The meal we had at The Bear at Alderwasley was excellent, a little pricey but excellent. For a little traditional pub out in the sticks it was packed and exceeded expectations. Highly recommended, but, you do have to book up well in advance if you intend to eat.
Andy finally got his hands on a replacement differential for his W30 model BMW 320 and has more or less finished fitting the sound system to his girlfriend’s Ford Ka (I think the sound system is more powerful than the engine). The diff will get fitted this coming weekend I suspect as it is currently sitting outside by the back door.
Mother is in real need of a break from caring for Dad, and although in good spirits this weekend she is so obviously very tired. Currently we are waiting on Social Services doing a needs assessment of them as a couple because in the past they have only ever assessed Dad. Hopefully there will be some movement along those lines now that Easter is out of the way – it always seems that Social Services staff get twice the annual leave of everybody else (barring politicians).
For my birthday I got a good showing of cards, a number of phone calls (including Angie & John) and a couple of emails all wishing me well. On top of that there were a number of messages on the DeauvilleUK web forum – nice people those Deauville riders. Presents were a widescreen monitor (to replace my aging 17” CRT monitor) which makes my old mini tower PC look a lot better than it actually is, a pressure washer (the old one had an impellor problem and was virtually dead on it’s wheels) and a bottle of scotch (thanks Dave, just got to get off the antibiotics now). Sunday saw Steve come round and we removed the near side door card and fitted the replacement speaker panel I’ve had sitting around for 4 weeks now since father-in-law stuck his walking stick through the old one.
Talking of the in-laws, mother-in-law was told last week that she needs a new knee and will have to go into hospital for the operation. She should have been having a series of steroid injections, but, because she doesn’t like injections she didn’t bother. Now she says that if she’d known that by not having the injections she would have to have an operation, then she would have had the injections. What did she expect? That it would heal itself? Now she’s all in a panic that father-in-law won’t be able to visit her because the hospital is 30 miles away, and, that there will be nobody to look after him. She’s forgetting that Janice (Suzie’s older sister) doesn’t work so she could bring her girlfriend up, stay with her father, tend to him and ferry him around. But, as they didn’t remember our wedding anniversary and have told us to stay away from father-in-law’s 80th birthday celebrations in a couple of weeks time because Janice & Dawn will be there, then there’s no way Suzie or I will be taking time off work (unpaid) to be at their beck and call (and we don’t have holiday entitlement in hand to cover it).
If you think kids are bad, just wait until you have to look after old folk!
Tuesday 25 March 2008
Easter weekend
For us Easter Bank Holiday weekend was an opportunity to spread the normally hectic 2 day weekend over 4 days, with the added opportunity of doing some little extras. Among the extras was an evening meal out together Saturday evening, just Suzie & I, to celebrate our 24th wedding anniversary. Karen came up from Canvey Island and stayed over Monday night and as I write this the 2 should be having a girlie day in the Derby Westfield Centre shops.
Saturday morning I looked out to find 2 burly chaps stomping round our front garden. Turns out that they are from Virgin Media and trying to sort out our telephone connectivity problems by laying some new cable out in the street. Did they do it? Who knows. They were around for about ½ hour or so before there was a snow flurry and after sitting on their van for 10 minutes waiting for it to stop, they disappeared. No sooner gone, and the snow stopped falling. All I know is that we are still on a temporary phone line patched into next door’s connection. I really do wonder how these telcos make any money – so far they have been out on 3 visits and it’s obvious that at least one more will be required in order to finish the job.
Sunday was fun – Andy was given a Lamborghini driving experience by his girlfriend for Christmas, so Suzie and I took them down to Bruntingthorpe in Leicestershire where he’d chosen to do it. It was a bitterly cold day, especially bearing in mind the amount of standing around that goes on at these events. First he had a Bonus Ride (which everybody was getting) to learn the track – this was in a Subaru Impreza. Then a wait for his turn behind the wheel of a Lamborghini Gallardo. 5 litres, 500bhp and 4 wheel drive. Only 4 laps but he was super impressed. So there he is, not yet 21 and he’s track driven a Lotus Elise at Rockingham, a Ferrari 360 at 3 Sisters and a Lamborghini Gallardo at Bruntingthorpe – not bad, not bad at all.
Other news – in between the snow flurries I managed to give the grass it’s first cut of the year. Washed and waxed both my and Suzie’s cars. And treated Suzie to a new Deep Fat Chip Fryer as an anniversary present – I really know how to treat a woman! Popped in for a couple of quick visits on Mum & Dad (Saturday and Monday). Dad’s getting deaf and that’s making conversation difficult. Mum wasn’t too tired, which is good to see, but she’s still running round too much for Dad. He doesn’t realise just how demanding he is being at times so he got a few words of home truth from me on Saturday. Suzie’s sister rang on Monday and caught Suzie in the mood to speak her mind, which she duly did. Suzie is most upset by her Mum & Dad forgetting our anniversary and continually going on about poor little Janice simply because Janice got caught claiming benefit while she had money in the bank. She’s never worked a day in her life yet she leads a life style that would keep Heather McCartney happy and has more savings than we do after 24 years married and with both of us earning. We feel we have honestly earned our life style, but, Janice manages to sponge more out of her relationships with her lady friends.
Mark is enjoying a break from his studies by getting in some snooker and poker evenings with his old school mates while they are all back from uni as well as spending some time with his girlfriend and fitting in some driving lessons. Apparently he has a date for his driving Theory Test, but he’s not telling when it is.
Saturday morning I looked out to find 2 burly chaps stomping round our front garden. Turns out that they are from Virgin Media and trying to sort out our telephone connectivity problems by laying some new cable out in the street. Did they do it? Who knows. They were around for about ½ hour or so before there was a snow flurry and after sitting on their van for 10 minutes waiting for it to stop, they disappeared. No sooner gone, and the snow stopped falling. All I know is that we are still on a temporary phone line patched into next door’s connection. I really do wonder how these telcos make any money – so far they have been out on 3 visits and it’s obvious that at least one more will be required in order to finish the job.
Sunday was fun – Andy was given a Lamborghini driving experience by his girlfriend for Christmas, so Suzie and I took them down to Bruntingthorpe in Leicestershire where he’d chosen to do it. It was a bitterly cold day, especially bearing in mind the amount of standing around that goes on at these events. First he had a Bonus Ride (which everybody was getting) to learn the track – this was in a Subaru Impreza. Then a wait for his turn behind the wheel of a Lamborghini Gallardo. 5 litres, 500bhp and 4 wheel drive. Only 4 laps but he was super impressed. So there he is, not yet 21 and he’s track driven a Lotus Elise at Rockingham, a Ferrari 360 at 3 Sisters and a Lamborghini Gallardo at Bruntingthorpe – not bad, not bad at all.
Other news – in between the snow flurries I managed to give the grass it’s first cut of the year. Washed and waxed both my and Suzie’s cars. And treated Suzie to a new Deep Fat Chip Fryer as an anniversary present – I really know how to treat a woman! Popped in for a couple of quick visits on Mum & Dad (Saturday and Monday). Dad’s getting deaf and that’s making conversation difficult. Mum wasn’t too tired, which is good to see, but she’s still running round too much for Dad. He doesn’t realise just how demanding he is being at times so he got a few words of home truth from me on Saturday. Suzie’s sister rang on Monday and caught Suzie in the mood to speak her mind, which she duly did. Suzie is most upset by her Mum & Dad forgetting our anniversary and continually going on about poor little Janice simply because Janice got caught claiming benefit while she had money in the bank. She’s never worked a day in her life yet she leads a life style that would keep Heather McCartney happy and has more savings than we do after 24 years married and with both of us earning. We feel we have honestly earned our life style, but, Janice manages to sponge more out of her relationships with her lady friends.
Mark is enjoying a break from his studies by getting in some snooker and poker evenings with his old school mates while they are all back from uni as well as spending some time with his girlfriend and fitting in some driving lessons. Apparently he has a date for his driving Theory Test, but he’s not telling when it is.
Tuesday 18 March 2008
New Car Tax rates from 2009
The Government proclaim that they want us to Go Greener so why do they hide away the important information and leave it to the BBC to break the news to us, the motoring public?
The information you need is the CO2 emissions level output by the car you are thinking of buying, then visit this BBC news item and look up the annual amount of tax you will have to pay. In this case less is better, lowest is best!
The information you need is the CO2 emissions level output by the car you are thinking of buying, then visit this BBC news item and look up the annual amount of tax you will have to pay. In this case less is better, lowest is best!
Monday 17 March 2008
News in general
Well here we are in the middle of March already, Christmas and New Year have become a distant memory, the nightmare of being made redundant has faded and the spectre of unemployment has gone to hide in the wings until 16th May (when my current, fixed term, contract expires). Being uncertain as to whether they will retain me or not, I’m still looking at alternative employment opportunities but not having much luck. There seems to be a lot of jobs out there, but they don’t appear to be real jobs as they mostly evaporate and get taken by internal candidates - which means that the employers were trying to find out what was available and what the asking rate was for the job. However, if I can stay in work then the bank account will (hopefully) stay healthy having received the cash injection that is the redundancy payout. The legacy of Zeda’s collapse is that I’ll have a fair sized hole in my pension contributions which I’ll have to try and make up some time in the future.
On the plus side, both the boys seem settled, Andy in his work and Mark at university (he finished on Friday for a 4 week Easter break). We have made plans to holiday at the end of June/start of July and both boys will be taking their girlfriends with them. In the meantime Mark is looking for a part-time job and has started driving lessons. I really need to change my car for one with a manual gearbox so that he can get some driving experience, but, don’t want to empty the bank account (or take finance) in doing so. I must say I don’t mind the travelling so much when the roads are deserted, like this morning – I’ve never known a Monday morning to be so quiet on the roads I travel. M1 & M69 were both light, and the car’s on-board computer said I’d averaged 55.4mpg (it lies, a lot) but that’s the best figure I’ve ever seen since buying this car. It’s still got to go though.
And life goes on…. Mum & Dad have a settled routine, it must be boring for both of them and I know Mum gets very tired at times. They both seemed OK at the weekend when I took down the shopping Mum had asked me to get. I’ve a few aches and pains but nothing serious. Suzie has the whole week after the Bank Holiday off so she only has to get through to Thursday night this week. And she’s off to a show with Carol later this week, and she’s off to Manchester with Mark & Eleanor on her birthday, and she’s always doing things…. life of Riley if you ask me! This weekend coming Andy will be driving a Lamborghini Gallardo – that should be worth watching – a Christmas present from his girlfriend.
On the plus side, both the boys seem settled, Andy in his work and Mark at university (he finished on Friday for a 4 week Easter break). We have made plans to holiday at the end of June/start of July and both boys will be taking their girlfriends with them. In the meantime Mark is looking for a part-time job and has started driving lessons. I really need to change my car for one with a manual gearbox so that he can get some driving experience, but, don’t want to empty the bank account (or take finance) in doing so. I must say I don’t mind the travelling so much when the roads are deserted, like this morning – I’ve never known a Monday morning to be so quiet on the roads I travel. M1 & M69 were both light, and the car’s on-board computer said I’d averaged 55.4mpg (it lies, a lot) but that’s the best figure I’ve ever seen since buying this car. It’s still got to go though.
And life goes on…. Mum & Dad have a settled routine, it must be boring for both of them and I know Mum gets very tired at times. They both seemed OK at the weekend when I took down the shopping Mum had asked me to get. I’ve a few aches and pains but nothing serious. Suzie has the whole week after the Bank Holiday off so she only has to get through to Thursday night this week. And she’s off to a show with Carol later this week, and she’s off to Manchester with Mark & Eleanor on her birthday, and she’s always doing things…. life of Riley if you ask me! This weekend coming Andy will be driving a Lamborghini Gallardo – that should be worth watching – a Christmas present from his girlfriend.
Wednesday 12 March 2008
Petition against Invasion of Privacy
BBC news item from today here:-
BBC news item
Tell Gordon Brown where to stick it, there’s a petition you can sign up to here:-
Petition the PM
I don't do anything over the internet that I'm ashamed off, but after years of using anti-spam software, I dead against ANY internet software provider being able to do exactly what that software does, AND GET PAID FOR IT!
BBC news item
Tell Gordon Brown where to stick it, there’s a petition you can sign up to here:-
Petition the PM
I don't do anything over the internet that I'm ashamed off, but after years of using anti-spam software, I dead against ANY internet software provider being able to do exactly what that software does, AND GET PAID FOR IT!
Tuesday 11 March 2008
MidlandHR director resigns
John (JD) has resigned as a director of MidlandHR Managed Services with his resignation being accepted by Laurence (MD of MidlandHR) last Friday 7th March. This immediately raises 2 questions in my mind:-
1. Did he go before he was pushed, he's had a number of run-ins with Laurence in the past...?
2. Would Pete return to a position where he was previously successful before his move to be MD of zeda?
Additionally, it appears that significant numbers of staff are leaving MidlandHR right now. Any ex-zeda staff fancy a job there? No, I thought not! Though Pete may be the exception, but I doubt it, after all, he wasn't treated any better than the rest of us as far as I can determine.
1. Did he go before he was pushed, he's had a number of run-ins with Laurence in the past...?
2. Would Pete return to a position where he was previously successful before his move to be MD of zeda?
Additionally, it appears that significant numbers of staff are leaving MidlandHR right now. Any ex-zeda staff fancy a job there? No, I thought not! Though Pete may be the exception, but I doubt it, after all, he wasn't treated any better than the rest of us as far as I can determine.
Monday 10 March 2008
BT, Virgin & Carphone Warehouse - Privacy Warning
Visit this forum and read this thread on a potentially serious breach of personal YOUR privacy:-
Privacy Warning
Some of the other links:-
Privacy Legislation
Additional Info
I don't like big brother attitudes at the best of times but when it's being done by "trusted partners" (i.e. my ISP) and it's being done by "dodgy dealers" for commercial reasons then I'm even more against it.
Privacy Warning
Some of the other links:-
Privacy Legislation
Additional Info
I don't like big brother attitudes at the best of times but when it's being done by "trusted partners" (i.e. my ISP) and it's being done by "dodgy dealers" for commercial reasons then I'm even more against it.
Tuesday 4 March 2008
The weekend in brief
Well the weekend was a bit of a mixed bag. Having anticipated spending a weekend doing mainly biker things and getting some miles in on the bike that was all scuppered by me pulling a back muscle at badminton on Tuesday night. Not sure what I’ve done but when the pain kicks in boy does it hurt, like distorted vision level pain. Dave gave me three Diazepam pills which improved things but when they ran out I resorted to Ibuprofen which help. As a result I didn’t feel brave enough to try man-handling the bike around and it turned out just as well that I didn’t, for 2 reasons. Firstly, I had a spasm Saturday afternoon, which could have had dire consequences had I been riding, and, secondly, Dad had a bad turn on Sunday morning and even though Angie & John were there, it was just as well that I was.
It was good to see Angie & John again. I’m glad that Angie is at last learning to stand up for herself and not let her employer push her around like she used to. John was recently hit from behind in his Focus by a Mercedes C class saloon. His Focus has a mark on the bumper, but the picture he took of the Merc shows a very sorry looking car that will need extensive (and expensive) repairs. Seeing the photo just makes me even more determined to change my car when the job situation is finally sorted (i.e. permanent). John came up and spent Saturday evening with me, cracked open a can each, watched some TV and generally chatted away – it doesn’t happen very often so that made it all the more enjoyable.
Suzie had an excellent trip to London with Carol and they got so carried away that they were last to the coach home and nearly got left behind. Andy spent some more time working on his recently acquired BMW 320 and Mark had his first driving lesson (a birthday present form Sue & I) in a Suzuki Swift (which he really likes).
It was good to see Angie & John again. I’m glad that Angie is at last learning to stand up for herself and not let her employer push her around like she used to. John was recently hit from behind in his Focus by a Mercedes C class saloon. His Focus has a mark on the bumper, but the picture he took of the Merc shows a very sorry looking car that will need extensive (and expensive) repairs. Seeing the photo just makes me even more determined to change my car when the job situation is finally sorted (i.e. permanent). John came up and spent Saturday evening with me, cracked open a can each, watched some TV and generally chatted away – it doesn’t happen very often so that made it all the more enjoyable.
Suzie had an excellent trip to London with Carol and they got so carried away that they were last to the coach home and nearly got left behind. Andy spent some more time working on his recently acquired BMW 320 and Mark had his first driving lesson (a birthday present form Sue & I) in a Suzuki Swift (which he really likes).
Trinity news
* Alec had an interview last week, no decision as yet communicated to me.
* Toby started at Trinity Monday 3rd March.
* Elizabeth had an interview Monday afternoon (3/3/08).
I also believe that Vanessa has had an interview (I heard it through the grapevine) but no reliable news back to me.
UPDATED 06/03/2008
Both Alec & Elizabeth have been unsuccessful in getting into Trinity.
Alec has found a position in Manchester.
* Toby started at Trinity Monday 3rd March.
* Elizabeth had an interview Monday afternoon (3/3/08).
I also believe that Vanessa has had an interview (I heard it through the grapevine) but no reliable news back to me.
UPDATED 06/03/2008
Both Alec & Elizabeth have been unsuccessful in getting into Trinity.
Alec has found a position in Manchester.
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