Flickr
Thursday, September 30, 2004
Bet you didn't know molasses could kill
Don't look at this at work. You'll laugh, people will want to look over your shoulder. Someone won't see the funny side. You'll get in trouble. I warned you.
He's got a point I suppose
Wednesday, September 29, 2004
I am incensed. Jane has bought a train ticket to go down south this weekend. It cost a frankly extortionate £49.
Chris has now kindly offered/been persuaded to give Jane a lift down south this weekend.
Jane therefore sought a refund on her unused ticket. Midland Mainline have charged her £10 for the privilege of having to queue twice in their awful station. That is an outrage. I am up in arms. No other business operates like that - if you buy a product and return it, unused, with a receipt the next day, you get a refund.
And they wonder why they are losing money.
They will be getting a letter, oh yes.
Friday, September 24, 2004
Nick will be very pleased - the beginning of the end for ATRAC
I survived my assignment and am fit and well. The mission was a success although I would not revisit that particular theatre of war by choice.
I have been offered a new mission in even more hostile territory - the Moorfoot Tavern. I have yet to accept it...
Tuesday, September 21, 2004
Last night I did a lot of tinkering to try and fix a problem. I appear to have resolved it. What has also happened is that I believe my home-hosted website is now visible to all (including the images) Hurrah!. This means I can move my blog back to blog.eggsareevil.com at some point. There's no real benefit in doing this, all that you'll notice is the lack of the banner ad at the top. The only issue I can see is that I can't remember all the steps and tinkering I'll have to do. D'Oh!
If you check back here in a few days, you may find we've moved - wish me luck with my tinkering...
This weekend I finally launched myself into a new hobby - mystery shopping. I go to a pub, have a meal, right a report and get paid for it (and reimbursed for my costs). What could be better than that? As it transpired for my first assignment, quite a lot.
The pub was a bit of a dive and didn't do food. Probably for the best as I couldn't wait to leave. If I had stayed any longer I may have inadvertently made eye contact with one of the chavs and started a fight. Oh well. I still get a bit of cash and reimbursed for my drinks.
Next undercover assignment this Wednesday night (assuming Q kits me out with the gadgets he's promised).
I knew it was a mistake giving Tim the relevant password. He promises not to abuse it though so that'll be alright.....
Friday, September 17, 2004
had trouble sending this from my phone last night, but I thought I'd better
get it online before I run away for the week.
Tim
You may not quite be able to make him out, but here is a man on the outside of the Arts Tower. Nineteen stories up.
Thursday, September 16, 2004
Summary: Everyone else is ripping-off UK consumers so we're not being anti-competitive.
Tuesday, September 14, 2004
So Flickr then.
As I currently have a cameraphone with email access and a blog to post to, it seemed rude not to get it set up so I can post piccies whilst I'm out and about. The bunny below seemed to work OK.
"Batman" climbs up a ladder on to the roof of an adjoining building. "Robin" comes down after police threaten to shoot him." Big news in the UK, not sure if it's covered Down Under, but thought it may be of interest.
Thursday, September 09, 2004
Unnecessary technology for the sake of (sh)it?
Tuesday, September 07, 2004
Some postcards were sent to people while we were in Italy. Some weren't. Two reasons; laziness on my part and secondly, working out how/where to buy stamps was a nightmare. Getting stamps for a few English postcards was a challenge. I opted not to risk trying to sort it out for Australia. This meant that although I bought and wrote a postcard to Mother, Sister and Brother in Law, I never actually sent it. Thinking it is silly to post it from England, I have decided instead on my first e-Postcard. Here it is:
That is Aquileia. It is not a big town. Odd when you consider that at one time during Rome's imperial age Aquileia was the empire's 3rd city (see, I read my guidebook).
Some of you may be able to spot my annotations indicating three strategic locations (please gaze in awe at my Photoshop prowess). The places indicated are:
1). Just off the edge of the postcard was our campsite. Official pictures of our "Maxicaravan" are here. Interestingly, the exterior picture is the one we stayed in, the interior living area must be one of the other two (we had no telly).
2). Christina's house. Christina is Jane's friend from school whose wedding we made the trip for. As you can see, her garden opens up onto some excavated Roman ruins. Cool.
3). Basilica. If you like old buildings, you'll like this one. By far the biggest building in town, it's a building steeped in history. It has been rebuilt five times - it's worth pointing out that one Mr A. the Hun took a dislike to Aquileia a while back. The clock tower is a "recent" addition and was constructed using the stone from the ruined amphitheatre. Could be a whole debate there along the lines of "recycling or recklessness", but I won't go there. There are some stunning photos of the place at www.aquileia.it and www.aquileia.net. I consider these two sites well worth a little look around. You get to appreciate how big the place is and how fascinating the mosaic floor is (third largest ever discovered if I recall correctly). Christina's wedding was held in this basilica, as was her mother's.
Due to our camera having two long-standing pieces of dirt inside I am still touching up our own photos and these should be posted by end of this weekend for anyone that is interested.
Oh, and while I remember, you may be wondering what the new little envelope is that appears at the end of each post. It's a quick way for anyone reading this site to email a link to the article to someone else. Don't know if anyone will use it, but it's there just in case!
Confectionery Review 5 - The Italian Job!
Monday, September 06, 2004
Here it is then, the first of two foreign confectionery reviews - a Tronky.
Manufacturer: Ferrero S.p.A.
Product: Tronky
Manufacturer's Description: "Wafer con ripieno cremoso al cacao e nocciole"
Grassi per 18g bar: 5.9g
Valore energetico per 18g bar: 96 calories
First things first; I think the picture of a vehicle on the wrapper is something to do with entering a competition to win one of these - 'the light quadricycle you can drive without a licence and that is changing the rules of mobility: it is excellent for every use in town or in the country, it is really easy to park and amusing to drive'. Like the Bullet but for foreigners. To put these in perspective, we saw a couple of them in Italy, they were parked diagonally so that they didn't fall down the drain covers. You could fit one on each seat in a Cinquecento. And still get in. They are small. Crash in one and you're dead. But I digress, back to the snack...
The small picture on the reverse of the wrapper shows a single crunchy wafer finger filled with a hazlenutty, chocolatey, creamy filling. Reminiscent of a Kinder Bueno really. The Tronky didn't disappoint - able to be held without melting in the Italian sunshine and providing a welcome snack break. The wafer crumbled with a satisfying 'solidity' - it didn't just break and splinter everywhere like so many childhood ice cream cornets. The filling tasted very much like the same used in Ferrero Rocher, and probably was. I enjoyed this bar immensely, but wish there had been two in the packet. Grazie.
Summary: 8/10 Good name, good bar, just not two bars. Due per favore.
Jane says: "Well, I wouldn't say it's wonderful" (high praise indeed)
Sports for consideration in the next Olympics
Go on, you know you want to
