Monday, August 30, 2004
Wedding and related festivities now over - am never eating again. Beach today and Venice tomorrow. Jane and I will be playing "Spot The Yank", last one to 20 buys dinner!
Flickr
Sunday, August 29, 2004
Local time is 00:45. We are just starting course eight of the wedding meal in a medieval chateau.
Saturday, August 28, 2004
I am currently sitting outside drinking cold beer in the town of Aquileia (pop. 3400 and us). I will be brief as am typing on my phone. Things noticed so far; they drive on the wrong side of the road, in some areas it is compulsory to have headlights on but no one knows where these areas are so they all have their lights on all the time, it appears unwise to dig a hole (doing so will doubtless uncover some unique ruin), all the tourists to this area are German - the locals speak Italian and German but not English. I am thoroughly ashamed of my language skills. The locally produced wine is 'oily' and very potent. To my absolute delight, our hire car is a brand new girly powder blue Fiat Panda - affectionately dubbed 'Son Of Bullet'. Back to the beer now...
Tuesday, August 24, 2004
Am off to Italy tomorrow for a week. Apparently I may be able to email in the odd post (assuming the place I'm visiting has GPRS coverage). If not, I may leave an MP3-post to let you know exactly how much it isn't raining ;-)
Sunday, August 22, 2004
Friday was a top day on several fronts.
I took delivery of order W75511274 - one Apple iPod mini silver (GB). Not before time too. I first read about them back in January. "Great" I thought, "something to replace my stolen minidisc player. Now I can enjoy listening to music during my commute". I was in for a bit of a wait:
first came the delay due to the Yanks snapping them up and Apple being unable to take the rest of the world's money quick enough. Given that at launch, the UK price was set to be some 40-odd percent greater than the US price, this seemed an odd decision from a profit perspective
The UK launch date was then announced
I ordered on July 13 with an estimated shipping date of 10 August (shipping to take 3-7 days)
At 17:00 on 10 August Apple issued an email saying that I was important to them, yet they were delaying the shipping date to a new estimated shipping date of 13 August. Cue lots of abuse to Apple through any channel available to me - their mail lacked sincerity, clearly I couldn't be that important to them or I wouldn't already have had to wait over six months. It was infuriating to note that in the time between placing my order and the estimated shipping date I could have ordered and received the mini from Dixons, Currys, Comet et al. But I decided that if anyone would actually be able to deliver (and stick to their timescales) it would be the manufacturer. So I didn't order from elsewhere. Mistake.
Then I started to track my shipment. Apple have a weird sense of timing - it took 4 days to do the 11 hour flight from Shanghai to Luxembourg. Odd.
Then it had to go to Holland.
Then to the UK on a ferry
Then to a TNT depot
Then out of a TNT depot
Then they tried to deliver it and found that I have a job, so wasn't at home
Then I rushed to Rotherham in the pouring rain in a Friday rush hour to pick it up
Now I have it :-)
I love my mini lots. Nick will be with me on this.
Though I think Apple may need to rethink product launches/manufacturing capacity.
Oh and before anyone says "why didn't you spend the £40 extra and get a 'normal' iPod with 20 gig drive or an iRiver?", don't go there. Believe me I did my research, I can counter any argument made in any 'iPod vs iPod mini vs Others' debate. Let it go.
To add to Friday's excitement, I also got a phone call from Orange Customer Services. A while back I registered as a 'triallist', essentially offering my services to test out any new things they come up with. I've already helped them out with testing video clips on my phone and they've now asked me to take part in a new trial. This time for their 3G service. They're going to send me a new 3G handset and let me play with it lots. A new handset that will allow me to have mobile data access at broadband speeds and make video calls to people! For free. Brilliant. All I have to do is spend a few minutes every so often filling in a webform to let them know what I think. They've even asked if other people I know on Orange would like to take part as well, there's no point in having a videophone if I don't know anyone else to make video calls to. Looks like Jane and I will soon be making video calls to each other.
Friday also saw my Tandoori Sizzler Dorito's review being the basis for a 'sighting' at SnackSpot. Fame at last.
As an extra plus, Friday was pay day (which meant an evening in the pub). Whilst in the pub it became apparent that this site has a slightly wider audience than I thought. This Blog was mainly set up for my own benefit, with a major bonus being that it allows my family in other parts of the world to keep up to date with what I'm doing. So it may be time to explain a few of the rules I try to adhere to.
Firstly, if you want to comment on anything I post (good or bad), please feel free to do so, you can do it anonymously, just click the Comments link at the bottom of each post. Note that if I deem your comment inappropriate/offensive/wrong I will delete it.
Names and stuff: Everything I write is my opinion. Right or wrong, offensive or not, it is simply my thoughts. I do try to play it safe though, it's just not worth getting fired over an individual's interpretation of my posts. Not that I think I've ever posted anything untrue/malicious. And I don't think I've ever mentioned exactly who I am, where I work and for whom. If I'm not sure someone will like being mentioned, I don't name them. I am aware of the consequences such actions may bring.
If you feel you're mentioned on this site and don't like it or feel I've been unfair, or if you feel you've not been given sufficient recognition and would prefer the anonymity surrounding you to be lifted, use the 'Contact' section on the right to let me know.
The bottom line is: If you like it here, good. If you don't like it here, go away. Do some work, do something more worthwhile - go set up a sanctuary for orphaned girl squirrels or something.
With that said, a post made a while back whilst drunk that I thought may have caused offence has been reinstated. It turns out that rather than cause any offence, the subject was a little flattered. You know who you are.
Wednesday, August 18, 2004
some oldies, some goodies, but a comical read for anyone who's ever done IT support
no more messing when you desperately need that cool bit of ASCII-art
world's smallest Flash game?
Ken Hom did not do this (video - narrowband unfriendly)
It is typically British to constantly discuss the weather. I am aware that some regular visitors to this site (most notably, mother) aren't in the UK. Since the demise of the WeatherPixie on my site, you've missed a lot! I cannot remember the last day it did not rain. In fact, I can't remember how many days ago it was that we did not have a thunderstorm. To put you in the picture, it's been wet and muggy for far too long. Although, Sheffield hasn't had it as bad as Boscastle (why they all decided to live at the bottom of a steep-sided valley with two rivers flowing into it is a question I've not yet seen answered). Anyway, I am fed up of it now.
Oh, watch out for the return of the WeatherPixie when I get round to redesigning/tidying-up this site - all I need is a free Saturday!
Yes, I know - I didn't get round to reviewing the Doritos yesterday. Just seem to be so busy at the moment. Anyway, here we go with a quick review:
Manufacturer: Walkers (who else is left?)
Product: Doritos Tandoori Sizzler flavour
Bag size: 40g
Fat: 10.4g
Calories: 198
Other: suitable for veggies
Manufacturer's description: '...taste so AMAZING because they are made the traditional Mexican way. The BEST corn is GROUND into a soft dough. It is then shaped, lightly TOASTED and quickly fried before being seasoned for that EXTREME TANDOORI SIZZLER flavour!'
One senses that new flavours are being invented for the sake of it...
If I recall correctly, when Doritos first launched they came in three varities; 'Cool' (revolting), Cheese (revolting) and Barbecue Beef (Ace). They stopped doing the beef variety a while back. A chilli flavour was brought in which kind of redressed the balance, but not much. Now we find ourselves with Tandoori Sizzler to boot. Who'd have thought it - Mexican snacks with Indian flavour?
Genius?
Well, no actually. They just don't smell or taste of anything remotely Indian, certainly not of anything cooked in a tandoor. Quite edible though, and worth buying for a bit of a change.
Summary: Moderate effort, but are Walkers now introducing new lines just for the sake of it? Certainly not 'AMAZING', neither was I overloaded with crunch. Mostly harmless.
Jane says: "You have to be kidding"
Monday, August 16, 2004
Coming tomorrow.....
Today is Friday the 13th. What better day to hold the Olympic opening ceremony. I will be sat on the sofa with a nice drinky or two. I will also have my "Olympic Opening Ceremony Checklist" ready. Some of the things I will be checking for are:
At least one person on stilts
Children from various races in heavily-practised dance routine, culminating in them forming themselves into the Olympic rings logo
Balloons
Dubious visual references to one or more of the following; pyramids, Empire State Building, Syndey Opera House, Taj Mahal
Completely abstract dance routine that no one at all could even pretend to fully understand, but they all clap politely at the end anyway
Female singer in sequined dress singing song about 'world unity through sport' that manages to make Celine Dion look hard as nails
Some kind of stage that opens up like a flowering plant to reveal dancers
I will also be finishing my drink each time that "Tonga" or "Tanzania" are spoken about or seen on the screen. Also, each time a reference is made to Greece's victory at Euro 2004 and each time that the smallest team so far are paraded out smiling and waving.
Just my way of livening up the evening.
Wednesday, August 11, 2004
keep your eyes on Sky channel 235
something God and I agree on
how to drive properly
Friday, August 06, 2004
There is a saying "if you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen". This guy guy doesn't like heat. He went into the kitchen, got burnt and is now suing. Needless to say this happened in America. If successful, this idiot is likely to hinder the free-speech that the Net provides - companies will be too afraid to host message boards and forums where people can express their views anonymously.
On the subject of heat, it is very hot today. Too hot for me. I took shelter in the chilled section of Safeway/Morrison's at lunchtime. Whilst there I was pleased to see that the Christmas decorations are now on sale. Right next to the barbecues. Surely only a matter of time til Christmas decorations are on sale all year round?
Thursday, August 05, 2004
For a while now I have been playing squash with a guy from work. I hadn't played squash since I moved to Sheffield. I came out of retirement.
Sadly, I have yet to win against my regular opponent.
I have now put this down to my out-of-date racquet.
Said racquet was bought in order to ensure I repeatedly gave Jim a darn good thrashing many years ago. It, at the very least, needed re-stringing.
Today I went for a browse at Decathlon. They had a 'sale' on. I looked at several racquets made of space-age materials.
Apparently, cool racquets can be made of space-age titanium metal (they make rockets from it don't you know), layers of carbon fibre, or graphite. One even used intellifibers(tm) in it's construction. These fibres, which are "created from piezoelectric material", are a revolution to this particular flavour of 'man hits ball with stick' activity as they "transform the mechanical energy from ball impact into electrical response that stiffens the racquet for ultimate power".
I reached for my wallet and headed for the checkout. Intellifibers(tm) were surely the missing part in my game, now I have them I must be invincible, muahahaha
Sunday, August 01, 2004
Important election issues
Want to be the next Bond villain?
Greetings from Duke Fluffycheeks!