June 2006 Archives

...since I met the woman who fancied the "Milkybar Kid"...

Spending today introducing our summer placement to the in's and out's of what I want him doing over the next few months. So time's flown by, and next thing you know, it's home time.

On the way home, I started thinking back to 2005, and 2 year's ago how I was contemplating the fact the funeral had only just gone, and how much things had moved on in 12 months. And now, it's 2 years hence.

As I said last year:

Be grateful for the memories, thankful for the gift of today, and excited by the emptyness of tomorrow.

Got up here about 6:30pm yesterday, after a very long drive. Traffic was mental, it taking over 3 and half hours to do what normally takes 2 hours 45 minutes.

Off out for beers and Ian's 25th birthday curry in Beverley. The second best curry house local to Nigel's pad, the best one still being Bengal Brasserie in Market Weighton Mum drove the Bemmer, and I left my car in the town. Just about managed to get everyone back in one car, but it involved Kev having to bundle himself in the boot. Well, they do say the BMW has a boot big enough to hide a body

Up bright and early to watch the wildlife in the garden, including the resident Green Woodpecker try as he did to pull a worm from the garden. Too much hardwork it seemed, he instead disappearing off to the hen coup for breakfast

Took Dawn into Hull and to The Deep, followed by a whistlestop tour of the city centre and all it has to offer. Naturally, we had to grab a bag of chips, proof that they don't do them like they do them up here

Back now at GT Electrical waiting to shut up shop before we go home and get ready for a night out on Beverley Road. A chance to introduce Dawn to a few of my Northern pals, and also to what has to be the cheapest night out I know. And takeaway at 2am, I'm sure

Interesting news, for those choc lovers, that more than a million Cadbury chocolate bars are to be removed from shelves amid fears that they may be contaminated with salmonella. Bit of a worry, as I was earlier today enjoying one of their new Dairy Milk with... bars. Foruntately it's not one of the ones that's been affected.

Reading into the story, ignoring the ITN slant that we're all going to die a horrible death, etc..., etc..., or the Daily Mail's view it's all part of a New Labout plot to assasinate their editor, it seems Cadbury have known about this "small issue" for over 5 months. It's only been decided to remove the product after a small rise in cases of the rare strain of salmonella, identified by the Health Protection Agency (HPA) back in January, started cropping up in healthcare reports.

Reading up on the Food Standards Agency website, there's also news about problems with Flora margarine.

All goes to show that the health option is still to process raw food's yourself. Hmmm, wonder if I can make my own chocolate...

Yup, the now annual IET fact finding mission to Tring Brewery was tonight. And, as always, I'm amazed I can type straight

Another attendance beater, with over 20 eager individuals there to sample the brews, the fish n chips, and listen intently to Andy as he explained the process of brewing beer in a mircobrewery. It was then back to the bar to sample Side Pocket for a Toad, Fanny Ebbs, Ridgeway, and Becks Bender.

They've started doing glasses, pump badges, t-shirts, and all manner of memorabilia. The only bad news was that they're not going to be at the CAMRA Great British Beer Festival this year. So I'll have to keep an eye out at our local pubs if I want to sample any of the 30-odd ales they plan on brewing this year

The trips have been going now for over 10 years (not sure if it's 11 or 12), and if this time's as good a measure as any, it's still as popular as ever. So, Dan, get on and sort out organising next years, it's in my diary already

Well, not quite, but my involvement in this years event has finished.

A change of date and venue sees it move to Bruntingthorpe Proving Grounds in Leicestershire. Being so used to it taking place in May, the weekend before Jules died, I'd forgotten it was on this weekend, and nearly booked myself to do a thousand and one other things. Whoops!

Not as busy as last year, we didn't hand out as many programmes as we'd normally do. But more help from club members, making mine and Pete's job easier. I even got chance for a wander and bought myself a tailgate strut. I can now use my boot without it clocking me on the head whilst loading up with shopping

Also, and more of a personal interest, was the Cold War Jet collection aircraft museum located on the site. With 2 Lightnings, a couple of Buccs, Victor, Jaguar, and various other bits and bobs, it was quite a change from the usual carshow. They also ran up one of the Lightnings during the afternoon, much to the worry of the ticket sellers. One of the portacabins ended up getting filled with grass and FOD by the jetwash, and the noise For one intererested reader, it was like being a kid again, sat on the runway side at Binbrook or Finningley. I must say I'd never imagined I'd hear a Lightning power up again, and it was just like I remember it

Off for a soak and a cold beer, standing on your feet all day does take it's toll

[UPDATE] Pete tells me it was manic on the Sunday, with a constant stream of people. Maybe the camping and more relaxed venue mean't everyone came down Saturday night.

Some readers may remember my story about various calls to my mobile, including 0870 042 6655. Well, they've dropped a little in recent months, only to start picking up again in the last week or so.

This time it's 08719 10 10 10, or 0871 910 1010 if you're used to old money formats Doing a search on Google came up with the following, buried away on a site:

No, not news that my Mum's birthday card arrived on time for her birthday today, but the result of today's England game

What was amazing was being able to watch the difference in analysis by the ITV pundits. Or, rather, the ad's and interruptions. And also, the change in opinion of everyone down the pub, and on the telly, when we scored our first goal, eventually.

My thoughts? I can't see how Alan Shearer can think England are doing okay, and even say that they're one of the better teams at present. The seemed to be trying to play in the second half last night, and the subs certainly uped the pace of the game. However, they did break the stats, scoring in the second half for the first time in ages, and leading the group for the first time since the 1982 World Cup. We'll all wait and see how Sweden fair

Oh, and before anyone else texts me asking, yes, my England shirt is number 10, read into that what you want

So, after all the rumour and denial, Peter Taylor's left Hull City. And no news on who's to replace him as manager. It also appears most, if not all the management team are off South to Crystal Palace.

Rumours abound as to his replacement, with chairman, Adam Pearson, listing a few possibilities, including Mick McCarthy, Joe Royle, Dave Penney, Martin Allen, Steve Tilson and Phil Parkinson. Of course, the websites have others, with one suggesting Terry Venables, who's currently out in Germany, apparently signing Ronaldinho up to bring back to the KC. Err, yeah!

Interesting development at Colchester today, a few hours after the Taylor announcement, with Phil Parkinson, Colchester's manager resigning. Hmmm, he's on Adam Pearson's shortlist, I wonder...

World cup fever is spreading across the nation, or as John Coleshaw's impression of Tony Blair said the other night, "Talk to the flag, coz the nation ain't listening..."

So, if you're stuck at work and unable to get home to watch the game, what's the option. Well, with the world of high speed internet connections, surely it's a case of finding a streaming site, and plugging in? Well, be careful if you've not got a TV licence. News on the BBC that you'll need a licence to watch online, so if the company you work for ain't got a TV licence, they'll be liable for the fine

Just got my Orange phone bill this morning. News that as from next month they'll be charging for itemised billing. Not that bothered, as I can get an itemised account online. So as long as they don't start charging for that, I'm happy.

But, just out of interest, I thought I'd google it, to see if there was any thoughts or news online. And there's more to these changes than meets the eye.

Within the small print, there's the news that they'll start charging 1p for delivery reports. Also, rumoured, that the 0800 and 0500 numbers will no longer be free, instead falling in line with other networks. Also, text message charges go up 20%

Given some of the cracking deals available on other networks, I'm half tempted to go for a match deal on Orange, picking another operators tariff, and keeping the other benefits of staying with Orange. Not, it seems, that there are many benefits of staying anymore

Hats off to Ian, this link emailed to me today, very handy for those of us fixing up and restoring our pride and joy

Don't know if it was a hint to start sorting out my cars now I've a garage and space to do it