October 2005 Archives

Many, many years ago, one Christmas in fact, Nigel and myself had gotten Debenhams vouchers for Christmas, amongst other things. So off to the Toy department we went. They were having a post-Christmas Hornby sale I remember. And having just got our joint Zero 1 based train sets all set up in the bedroom, it was a chance to expand stock

I'd got the APT and Nigel a little shunter and some wagons. So he was eager to expand the passenger side of things. And it just so happened, going cheap was a new Hornby class 110 DMU. So, along with some wagons for me, we spent our vouchers and hurried off home.

At home you can imagine the disappointment when, upon removing the DMU from it's box, one of the wheels was missing. So we took it back, and as they were closing down the Hornby part of the department, they gave Nigel his money back. And that was that.

So, you can imagine the feeling, when searching eBay over the last week, seeing the price these things now fetch. Anything upwards of £86 it seems

I don't know whether to point out or not, but a new wheel costs 50p...

Yes, I now have somewhere in the house to sit and eat. I'd made the choice that tidying out the cupboard, rearranging the front room, and moving things out of the kitchen was just the thing for a post-hangover day's work

So, now in the kitchen there's Lynne and Laurie's old table, and a couple of sacks of rubbish to go out tomorrow morning. The cooking books now reside on the living room, along with other books which up until now didn't have anywhere to live. And the 20 odd buckets I've somehow managed to collect over the years are now sitting under the stairs.

All in all a rather productive day, even if movement was interspaced with regular ontake of fluids

So, did we overdo it last night? Errr, yes

Not feeling too bad now, having had that extra hour in bed. Least that's the way the clock's telling me.

Good night, 2 excellent comedians, and 1 that I feel asleep during. And an excellent club too, with a varied selection of music. Finishing with "New York", although just not the same as The Brewmaster, eh Dave

Nothing much to report on the daftness front, apart from Stuart's cousin Adam, thinking it'd be funny to rub Tiger Balm in Stuart's eyes. Least the Police were understanding enough once we'd explained why he was screaming down the town square. Least to say, when Adam's ready for marriage, I dread to think what'll happen on his do

There's a few pictures of the evening, some very nice young ladies frequent Watford you know . But since I was one of only a few people you could class as single, I've been asked not to publish. Maybe in a few years time

And so the day arrives, of Jules' brother, Stuart, and his stag do. He's practically organised everything so I suspect it's not going to be much of a surprise for him. A sedate day's pool at the local club, a curry at 4:30pm (bit early ), then limo's over to Watford for Jongleurs and a night of comedy and boogie

Just in the process of downloading all my pics off the phone (bloody Bluetooth is crap ), so I've room for any snaps later. Better get a move on, otherwise the day will be gone before we know it

For those who didn't know, Derby lost at the weekend

News that George Best is in a serious condition in hospital. No direct suggestion it's related to drink, but he's not been known for his abstinence from alcohol

We had him booked once, for a charity evening. It was cancelled, after he didn't turn up. Rumour was he'd got as far as the hotel bar, and collapsed in a heap

Fingers crossed, this time he takes heed and stops abusing his liver. Only time will tell tho'.

News today on the BBC that Chris Moyles is increasing his audience for his BBC Radio 1 breakfast show. The figures are the highest since he took it over from Sara Cox.

Glad to hear, since he's the first in a while I've actually enjoyed listening to. And recently he's been off on hol's, leaving Scott Mills to cover. And, I'm afraid to say, Scott's style and humour ain't my cup of tea first thing in a morning. Maybe it's Chris' random phonecalls using one of my fav artists, Sting, the "Sting Ring" slot, that appeals. Either way, I'm finding it harder to drag myself up in a morning and roll into work

Of course, it's nothing like the audience figures for Radio 2. Which, rather disturbingly, I'm finding quite a good listen on work trips during the day. Am I really getting that old?

I'd mentioned a couple of weeks ago about the family cat, Vena, sadly passing away after a very short illness.

Well, after searching the internet, eBay, local papers, and magazines, they've managed to find a place local to Hull which had a pair of Siameses ready to go, as they say. And come late Monday night, there's a new cat in town

A tortie-point, which means she's got brilliant blue eyes, and, rather than the traditional Lady and The Tramp Seal or Chocolate point, a patchy red, cream and apricot colour. A similar pattern to a tabby cat, but only around the face, paws, and tail. Of course, there's loads of places on the 'net with better and more detailed explainations. A few include:
Red, Tortie, Cream & Apricot Point Siamese Cat Standard of Points
Chit Chat Cattery - The Siamese Points and Colors
Siamese Planet
The Red Point & Tortie Point Siamese Cat Club

Reading through company news at lunchtime, I came across a fascinating series of pictures. Which, on searching the 'net, I found on a US news site, gizmag.

It's a system of decoys that work in various wavelengths, making the vehicle it's protecting disappear, as the snippet above shows.

As you can imagine, this has applications all over the place, whereever there's a need to protect something against attack. The US Navy is already interested, and many other countries will no doubt show interest too.

Now, I wonder if it could be fitted to a fast moving car....

It turns out there are readers out there, beyond the site landlord, my brother Ian, the Deletetheweb gang, and a few work friends. A comment posted to my recent post on eBay madness by a chap called Ian from Spinneyhead Scale. He's recently bought a Bloodhound from eBay in the US, and didn't appreciate the re-releases.

So, in answer to the question, I thought it'd be an idea to post up a few snippets and links

The best place I've found for history of Airfix, kit releases, and places to buy out of production kits, are:

• Airfix Collector
• Airfix Collectors Club

Original released in 1960, as a HO/OO scale vehicle kit. Re-released in 1993(?) as 1:72 scale aircraft kit. It includes a landrover and trailer, along with a couple of figures and guard dog. The Bloodhound has also been included in a release of the early Hercules aircraft, these particular kits going for daft prices if and when they appear on eBay.

As always, I stand to be corrected, as most of the info above is what's trawled from the 'net. All my bits and bobs are up in the loft back home, so catalogue accuracy can not be claimed

A recent thread on the car club's forum was asking just that. What music do you play which you then find yourself trying hard not to rush over the speed limit to?

Well, I'd been struggling to think of something. Most of the music at the moment being good listening, sing-along, rather than "Bat-out-of-hell" maniac driving to work

So, on the way home on Monday, thanks to Ian , I listened to a selection of old classics on the new Prodigy singles collection album. And sure enough, I've found my music - No Good (start the dance)

12 month ban, no licence, and getting the bus into work, me thinks, is only around the corner now

Well, not quite. But problems with Primavera yesterday whilst I was off fixing the car. Typical, of course, that when I do choose to have a day off, that something happens. Nothing major, just, lets say, "User error". All sorted this morning, and normal service resumed

No, I've not sold the cars, or, for that matter, broken them and sold bits off on eBay. I know have a fridge-freezer with shelves and drawers

Got all the bits whilst home this weekend, and last night set to and fitted them. The coolest bit is an ice tray It's just a plastic tray that slides in the top of the freezer, out of the way of the shelves. But it's just deep enough to hold ice cube makers. So that's getting filled up and ready for any emergency arrivals of vodka and redbull

The fridge bit can now hold eggs, bottles, and bits in the door. And a flashy salad box means I can take out what I need to cook all in one go. Chop, cut, and cook, then plonk it straight back in, without having bits rolling about and falling out when I next open the door.

Just need to remember now that I've got this to make shopping trips and cooking easier. Not, as it could be, to start eating 2 or 3 times as much

They say that Volkswagen is more reliable than life itself, least that was the advertising campaign of long ago. So, having had the car breakdown on the way up, the exhaust make noises it shouldn't and necessitate a prolonged stay upt' North to sort, I was expecting the journey home last night to be an uneventful one. But, they say, problems come in 3's. And I can confirm, least in my car, that this bode true

You may remember mention a few weeks ago about split cooling hoses. Well, I'd refilled the cooling system with more and more water as it needed topping up. And this must have stressed the system somewhat, as another pipe burst not long after. You can obviously guess what's coming, if you read those 2 stories, particularly noting what happened on the last trip home.

Needless to say, another pipe burst. Or, rather more, split, all the way down it's length, like a banana Fortunately, I'd got bits in the car to effect a repair. And with a roll of insulating tape, a pair of pants, six tie-wraps, and 5 litres of coolant/water mix, we were back on the road and heading home.

Looking today at what needs ordering, and checking the part number on the side of the pipe, the actual date it was made on was 17 January 1983. Which means it's been on the car since new. So, I guess, it's allowed to break. 22 years or more service is more than can be expected of a simple piece of rubber, don't you think

Few beers last night. Feeling as rough as old boots this morning. But not sure if it was that or the repainting of the workshop floor with Nige. Nige's feeling a little worse too, but he'd forgone the pub outing. I wish I'd followed suit, I've not felt this bad in a looong time

The workshop repaint has been underway for the last few weekends, Nige and Nige staying back after closing on a Saturday to move things around and paint. It's looking very smart now, a professional, clean and tidy feel. Amazing what a lick of paint will do. I can remember, as part of my Saturday job chores for Dad, painting the floor with the stickest, stinkiest red industrial floor paint. And, yes, not always thinking it through, and painting myself into a corner

The place is looking really tidy and clean once more. And with the new chap starting soon, Nige and Mum will hopefully have a little more time to sort out all the other little bits and bobs. Oh, and I need to sort a long weekend up there to go through all my little bits, like the, er, 16V engine, cough...

Finding that the great thing about eBay is finding those things you've dreamed of having, and someone else wants rid. An example is the Airfix Bloodhound missile, if only to go on the desk next to my Seawolf.

The kit was re-released recently, and I never got round to grabbing one. But there's been a few popping up on eBay, so it's just been a case of waiting and making a bid

Noticed recently that Frog, another plastic model manufacturer, did a 1/25th scale version many moons ago. Bigger and more impressive a desktop model, you'd say Well, have a look at eBay to see how much it went for :

• FROG BRISTOL BLOODHOUND S.A.M.

So, there I was, early Friday evening, stuck just north of Sandy, with a broken car. The fault? Suspected coil, and sod's law being what it is, the only bit of the ignition system I don't have in my box of spares. I'd taken it out of the box years ago, thinking, "Why do I need that?"

Anyway, the AA turned up. Unfortunately with very vague details of where I was, what was wrong, and also that the car is dark green, rather than green. Not being able to do anything, it was a case of arranging a tow. At which point I discovered my cover isn't as all covering as I thought. And, not surprisingly, on a Friday, in heavy traffic, sorting an upgrade over the phone wasn't that easy.

So, start calling round to see if anyone's at home and can come and rescue me

Fortunately, Nicky was just about to start dinner, so hadn't had any alcohol and so jumped in her car and dashed over. Within the hour we'd been back home, stripped coil's off the other cars, and back with enough spare parts to restart a fleet of Golfs, never mind just mine Within minutes all was well, I bode my "Knightess in Shining Armour" () a fond farewell, and hit the road once more.

Got up North by 12:30am, having missed tea, last orders, finding my brothers very drunk and asleep on the sofa's

If only everything in life was as reliable....

If you've ever wondered why or how this place, and the rest of the community, came about, Jonathan's posted up a potted history, over at The Daily Grind.

What can I add? Well, as a tool of comfort, easing the burden, and communicating Jules struggle the last few years to everyone, it's been irreplaceable. And as a record of events, to be re-read as time flies by, slowly coming to terms with the grief of it all, it's been perfect.

Jonathan, thank you, both for the idea of this place, and for being there when it's least expected, but always needed

After sorting out registering this place on Technorati, disappointment at the ranking results, as you no doubt remember. And reading Jonathan's post about some of the more weird things going on.

Looking today, things are getting better I'm now 384,239

Been putting off doing something with this place for ages. Work commitments creating intranet sites, digging up content for the club's website, and helping a couple of novices join the ever expanding world wide web. The style and design of this place being an exact copy of Jules. And Jules ' site wasn't really styled, it was all about content after all.

Just popped round the community. A sort of walk down the street we call "Deletetheweb". And mightly impressed with Mark's latest rendering - Industrial Sunshine. If it doesn't automatically display, look up the menu bar and find the Themes droplist and select it. Very stylish indeed

Having spent the day going through stuff, it's been a little tearful. But if I'm honest, I've been bursting out most of the week just gone. Strange, because you can't explain what sets you off, and suddenly tears are streaming down your face. At the bar, on the dance floor, waiting to pay at the checkout. Something triggers something and the emotion floods in.

Songs like the Coldplay latest, Fix You, or Vanessa Carlton's A Thousand Miles, or DJ Sammy's Heaven quietly playing in the background, pounding out on the dance floor, and subconciously entering my thoughts.

Can't really sleep tonight, on account of this now annoying tickly cough. So up, fidgeting, finding something to do whilst I cough up my guts.

And then it hits me. Today, or rather just about now. 18 months ago to be exact. I miss you

Jules Aunt and Uncle are having a clearout, and have kindly donated a small kitchen table and chairs to me So, if you've ever been in the kitchen, you'll know it's a job to make room.

Today was that day. Ripping out all the junk under the stairs, wondering why on earth some of it has been kept. And discovering things Jules had obviously tidyed away that I'd thought were long gone to the tip.

Just need to put it all back in there now. So I'm taking a break, it's been a long and emotional day.

Placed a bid on something for Nige's merc last night before I went out. And thanks to Orange, was able to track progress as it came to a closed.

I WON

And better still, looks like no-one else was bidding, so it went for a lot less than Nige was thinking. Quids in all round

Popped out in Stevenage last night, haven't been out to the Leisure Park in ages. A few people from work, someone had a birthday to celebrate, and a chance to show the new guy, Andy, the delights of a Friday night at the town's centre of entertainment

God night out, met up with a few people I've not seen for a while. And had a good ol' boogie 'til 1am. Feeling it now, the old knees can't take it like they used to in the old days

Dragged myself out of bed this morning to get into work. Got a PC to move, which isn't that much of a task, except we're not supposed to do it ourselves. So, hush, hush, it didn't happen, right

Sad news today from Mum. After a week or more of feeling under the weather, last night Vena had to be put down. She'd been suffering, not eating, and generally not right of sorts. And this week, after a visit to the vets, it was discovered she'd got kidney failure, along with a raft of other things.

Unusual for a cat so young, and as you can imagine, upsetting.

Jabba's gone now, to chase mice upstairs

There were one of the first to have internet banking, back in the early 90's on Compuserve as TSB, and now it appears they're stepping up online security

The new device, keyring-sized, creates a random number which will be used in conjunction with the current security measures in place. Apparently this is to combat the newer sniffer systems that can capture the screen display as an image, therefore getting hold of the random information you type in in order to get the complete word, sequence of numbers, etc...

Looking forward to see how this pans out, although having another piece of plastic on the keyring will be a bind

Two guys at work, father and son, along with another guy, have just returned from their mad trip across the US in aid of Motor Neurone Disease (MND).

So, you might say, big deal, driving across the US for charity ain't that big a challenge. And booking a car to take you from one side to the other, can't be that hard, now, can it?

Of course, Lee and his Dad, Mark, had to drive something they were familiar with. So, they took their own car with them. A classic Mk1 Escort no less

The website, Fords On Tour explains the trip, pictures, and stories, as well as news on previous trips (Yes, they've been elsewhere). I particularly like the story about entering a local car show, only to win the "Travelled furthest" trophy by quite a margin

There's a website is available for donations, if you want to reward what has to be one of the maddest ways of raising cash for charity that I've ever heard

As last night was a footy night, and the conversation got onto what teams you support. Well, surprisingly, this new chap's from Hull. Or, rather more specifically, Willerby.

Chatting about Hull's form at the moment, and what seems to be happening. Loosing games, and not showing the form of last season. I guess moving up a division has been harder than before, but Luton seem to be doing better, having managed to stick toward the top of the league.

Hopefully things will pick up. And with the Tigers coming down to play Luton in February, that makes 2 local's who'll be supporting the visitors when they play

There's a new guy just started working here, used to work with my old flat mate, Mr Hughes. Wanting to see what Stevenage has to offer as nightlife, we'd arranged to pop out to the White Lion for a pint, and catch the football on the telly. Something I've not done for a while, being quite happy sitting in and watching England get slaughtered in the comfort of my living room.

What a result A game worth watching, with England seeming to have found playing as a team once more. What was more interesting, was the fact that, without Beckham, the team still seemed to work. They also scored too, something that's been lacking.

Registered for eBay many, many years ago, but never actually gone on and bid, or really spent a bit of time looking around. It was only recently, having started clearing through my stash of Airfix kits and bits for the Golfs that I thought it's probably worth having a butchers and seeing what it's all about. Ian's been using it to shift stuff, and making a tidy profit in some cases. So, it can only be a winner, surely?

What's surprised me is the price some things go for. Putting a couple of bids in for some bits, say a kit with no box, just a plastic bag full of plastic. And it's selling for £5-6

Now, I know the trick seems to be to put everything to "Watch" and then wait 'til the last few hours. So, having tried this, I snapped up a 1:48th scale Airfix Harrier kit for £3.11, saving over £8 on the normal retail price

I can see how easy it is to get carried away tho, having started to bid for something, only to realise I was trying to outbid someone else at a price that was really taking the mickey.

I'm addicted

Caught the news last night, of the fire at Aardman's Bristol warehouse

Morph, some of the original Wallace and Gromit sets, storyboards, and other memorabilia have all gone up in smoke. A sad day for Morph and friends

Well, okay, maybe not actually driving under their own power. But Airfix announce the issue of new models to conicide with the new film The Curse of the Were Rabbit.

Looks quite good as a model van, and will go nicely with the plane and motorbike & sidecar released a few years back. Just need to find a local shop stocking them

After a bout of the cold's. Found some interesting definitions of what constitutes a cold. So there really isn't anything to do, except battle through it. And that I've done, consuming a considerable amount of Lemsip, and lots of fluids. Been really getting my money's worth from my Brita filter

Finally found out why PDF's weren't viewable in IE.

Hard to believe, I know, that Microsoft updates corrupted the registry settings and disabled the PDF viewer. I just hope I'm not opening a can of worms, and discovering a large chunk of my home PC is shagged

And yes, I know, these problems wouldn't be if I used a proper browser. But since 100% of my paid work is in IE, so I get paid to puzzle over these problems, I'm not really into using anything else, yet

Or so the headline reads in the latest amicus magazine. It appears that the Bank of Scotland have been using vegetables in a bid to motivate staff at their branches.

All sounds a little far fetched, until searching Google comes up with Scottish TV's coverage of the story, as well as news on the BBC's website

Using a cabbage to highlight the worst performing member of staff, it appearing on their desk in full view of customers. It would then move on once someone else was found to be performing worse than they were. It certainly worked, one customer, feeling so sorry on hearing the reason behind it, agreeing to sign up for more insurance to boost the teller's sales and get rid of the veg

It brings back a lot of the problems Jules had when working for the council in Letchworth. Thankfully then it was sorted out by her union representative, and the people involved reprimanded. But it does make you wonder what some people are thinking of when you read stories like this.

Caught Murray Walker on BBC's Breakfast this morning, havin had another crap night's sleep. Lemsip in hand, I watched as he talked about his new book, Formula One Heroes, a personal insight into the heroes of the sport, as well as the fountain of knowledge that made Murray's commentary so priceless.

There was, of course, reference to a few of the quotes that made him so famous, including, "There's nothing wrong with his car, except that it's on fire", and "I'd just like to interrupt myself to bring this important development".

More quotes can be found on The Murray Walker Quotes Page.

The Royal Mail's Ashes 2005 stamps are issued today. Interestingly, only 1st class and 68p ones, rather than the more usual set of 4 standard values of 1st, 42, 47, and 60.

Well, after the Royal Mail's campaign to get us to send a letter, "I saw this and thought of you", I had to chuckle this morning on realising the significance of the 2 values.

1st class is good for sending letters round the UK. And 68p? Well, that's how much it costs to send a letter to Australia

Confusion over the news that Google and Sun want Office users, had me wondering why would the page 3 tabloid want to tie up with Google?

Of course, reading the story, and further announcements today on other future deals clears it up.

We're using a lot of Java at work at the moment, developing solutions for Primavera integration using their API. And after the other week's technical training, there's more to come on that front, with developments to encompass .NET and more general Microsoft-based web services. So it's encouraging reading the plans, that there could well be some serious competition for MS Office at last. Sure, they do do some nifty software, but there's always bits which never quite do what they should. And without a viable alternative, there's not really much force to exert to get the bugs fixed, now, is there?

Worrying news about NTL and it's plans to try and buy up all the competition, rather than sort out it's terrible customer service:

• NTL seals $6bn Telewest takeover

I can just see it now, Fergie complaining to the referee, only to be told, "I'm sorry, but all our officials are busy at the moment. Your football match is important to us. Please hold while we wait to put you through"...

News that the drug Herceptin will be made available to all breast cancer sufferers. Good news, I hope, but I'm always wary of the apparent pressure to run into getting it approved and onto NHS lists. There's valid reason for testing and checking. Only a simple dig into the BBC site, or Google, brings out stories on how Herceptin could be linked to heart failure.

I hope that once this drug is approved and made available to all who need it, that it doesn't blow up into yet another wonder drug that actually kills more than the symptoms it's trying to cure.

Spent most of the day in bed, flu seeming to have come early for me. And after such a long period of healthly living too. Maybe the last few days have gotten me down. Either way, I'm pumped full of vitamins and Lemsips. Gotta shake it off in time for the weekend and the reunion for the Agoonoree bunch. Owh, and collecting the bits for me fridge

Some positive news on Airfix on the BBC:

• Airfix heads 2,400 years into future

All I need to do now is crack on with the stash of kits and start building models again. Now where did I put that paint brush

Just got word from Mum, the missing bits for the fridge have arrived. I'll be able to pick them up this weekend, all going well

Drawers, lids, and a bottle rack, to replace the broken bits. Surprised how quick it was, but then that's the GT Electrical way for you - quick service

Sorting the car, at least, putting some coolant in and ordering another pipe. Seems just plain water boils too quickly and pressurises the system, and pop. Pipe bursts

Also, Janet came round for tea. Fish and chips, out of the freezer

Spent the evening going through all Jules clothes and cuddly toys. Sorting out what we want to keep, and what to give away. A long evening, bringing back many memories. Most of the bags I'd just packed away in the wardrobe and various corners of the house. Didn't appreciate, or remember, how much there was. But it's done now, another thing tackled.

And my fridge is full

Chicken, mince, fresh veg's, milk, mmmmmmm, lots of goodies for meals, snacks, breakfast, everything

Just setting to to bake some cakes, then it's Nige's Monster Beef Fillet Ciabata's with onion rings.

Just going to have to keep an eye on the diet now

My new fridge has a light I can see in the dark

Yes, I know, dear reader, you're probably wondering, has Al finally lost his marbles. What's so special about having a fridge-freezer after all?

Well, imagine if you will, that when we moved in over 5 years ago, all we had for cold storage was Jules' grans old fridge. Sufficient, you might say, for the pair of us. But with only a small ice box, it did limit us on shopping and cooking. Many a time we'd sit and consume what should've been a couple of meals worth, because something was either not freezing properly, or there simply wasn't the room to store it.

So, when Nige arrived this evening with Janet's old fridge-freezer, you can't imagine the excitment Can't wait to go shopping to Asda tomorrow

A day in Cambridge seeing Geoff and his family. It's been nearly a month since he retired, and even longer since I've been up to Cambridge for one of our regular afternoon drinks and eats

Got there just before lunch, and straight off to the Regal. Wetherspoons, as usual, are kicking off their October Beer Festival in style, and there was a HUGE selection, including Butcombe Gold, Old Hooky, and Marston's Pedigree to name but a few.

So, after a couple of beers it was straight over to the Bun Shop for lunch, taking a leisurely stroll down Milton's Walk, with Geoff regailing us, as always, with the local history and significance of the pathway

Unfortunately, the ownership of the Bun Shop has changed since we were last there. So the food and wide selection of wines was somewhat lacking. However, we did manage a rather nice red, and afterwards descended on the Carlton Arms, Geoff's local, for a quick half before making our way back to the station.

All in all, a grand day out, and great to see Geoff enjoying his retirement, even if it means he's busier now than ever before