It's hectic as anything, apologies!

Been listening to the Beatles a lot of late, before all the 40th anniversary of Sgt Pepper. It's really nice to go back to albums you've loved for years, but haven't heard in ages.

Well, the car has been delivered to me. And it's great :-)

I'm really annoyed at the Olympics in London today. What on earth is that shambles of a logo? Looks cheap, nasty, and has all the signs of a 40 year old bloke trying to be "down with the kids". Who then got very patronising on the radio about it all.

Get a grip.

Kids don't go the sports centre for other reasons other than it's not cool. They don't go because a PS3 or a Wii is fun, and some of the sports I did at school were definitely not fun. Nothing beats a of Daley Thompson Decathlon in the old Commodore 64, and I put the vreal track and field in that (mainly as I sucked at it).

Sports these days is all about skateboards and moutain biking - they've been made cool by people like Tony Hawks. Badminton isn't cool. That's why the nearest kids get to sports centres now is doing tricks in the car park.

Yesterday I met up with some people the Missus used to work with in Limehouse (it's in East London. No, I didn't know that either.) Anyway, as we walked down the road the italian was on, I see a pub called the Narrow. Now, I've never been anywhere near this area in my life, but I know about the Narrow as it's just recently opened, and is owned by a Mr G Ramsey. So, kicking myself that the missues friends hadn't booked us there, I went to the italian and gazed out the window wondering what the food is like.

After lunch, we went up to the Narrow. It's on a bend and as it was a glorious day, we stood outside with beer in hand. It's not badly priced, (75p cheaper for a pint of Peroni than I'd paid in Wimbledon the week earlier no less), and the food is slightly more than you'd pay in a pub, but no more than you would in a gastro pub. It's quite hard to gauge all the food prices as I've never seen calves cheek on the menu in the local boozer. The place is in a brilliant setting on the river, and will do well there. A return visit is in order on a sunny weekend soon.

A walk through back to Bank station (yes, we took the DLR back to Tower and not Bank...) meant a very pleasant wander through the city when there is nobody about. The architecture there is amazing and with it being quiet, we could appreciate it all the more.

Today has seen us prove a pub discussion from yesterday wrong. The missus reckoned that a bike ride from Wimbledon, to Richmond park, a complete circuit of it and back, would take all day. Pah! Knocked that out in 2 hours dead overall time, which included a stop for an ice cream :-) A mere 16 miles or so in total, and was great to see the deer out in force again. This afternoon has been quiet with trips to the supermarket and garden centre. The missus has spent most of it pottering about in the garden while I watched the touring cars race live (well, the bit I was awake for...) and then a spot of tiling to finish off a DIY job. Needless to say, I pooped :-)

Not a happy bunny.

All the paperwork had been done, collection of the new car arranged. So I drive there, do all the paperwork, and then the dealer realises the finance company transfer of funds hasn't completed - this means I can't take the car away.

It turns out the finance company had said they would do an overnight transfer and actually did a BACS 3 day transfer. As the money had been sent on Wednesday, it won't hit the account till Monday sometime. The dealer was very apologetic (as he should be) and I'm expecting a boot full of goodies to make up for it. He did offer me a brand new 3 series coupe for the weekend, but my parking is all done with permits this was just going to be a hassle. Hopefully I'll get the new one on Monday. Will be VERY annoyed if I don't.

Anyway, to cheer me up, I came across this, the powertool drag race. Now this sounds like a recipe for disaster - people make drag racers out of power tools, blades and all. It made me think about a collegue, but no matter how much I looked at the photos, I couldn't see the GorseFox's entry!

My favourite is the funny car made out of 8 chainsaws...

http://www.silverlinetools.com/power_tool_drag_racing_2006.html

I see the Gorse Fox has a great journey home last night. Wish I had...Leaving a bit later than normal, I seemed to hit every pocket of traffic going. M5, M40, M25 (although it was much better than normal as I got there much later than normal).

Makes you wonder why you do it.

The new car doesn't currently have a CD autochanger in the boot (although the wiring is all there so it's easy to do). I'm active on a couple of mini and bmw forums (Mini for historical reasons as I used to have a couple) and asked what the options were for ipod integration. One solution that has come back is quite interesting and I can't decide it's madness or a good solution.

There is an Alpine interface that connects into the standard BMW head unit for use with Alpine extras (such as their own CD changer, DAB radio etc) but it also has an interface for an ipod. However, to use the ipod properly you need an Alpine head unit, which I don't have. So this company have made an interface box that connects between the Alpine interface and your ipod and let's you control the ipod via the head unit and also have a CD changer in the boot (which also has support for MP3 CDs with ID3 tags shown as well).

It's neat, and relatively cheap, however it's all a bit beta tester for my liking as it's not been officially released. Still, there is demand for the parts so if I buy it and don't like it, I can always sell it, and still use the MP3 changer.

Busy weekend so I apologise for lack of action!

Wembley was brilliant on Saturday, although the place feels very clinical. It lacked that special feeling I got when I went to other similar places for the first time, other big stadiums such as Murrayfield, Old Trafford, the Nou Camp. Even Schalke's ground had that feeling and it's a fair bit smaller (61,000). Maybe it'll get it after a few big games, but the noise inside was immense and the view was brilliant. Easy to get to and from, but it just didn't have that something special for me.

We've also seen two wedding photographers this weekend, one of whom is a hot favourite. One more to go, but will see if we actually go with her or if we want to see a few more.

We also introduced my parents to the joy of Buzz on the playstation - it's very amusing in groups like that!

Shame the weather was so blooming awful all weekend, and typically it's glorious sunshine today in Worcester (and London earlier).

!!!!!

Mental day yesterday with work, but all settled down nicely by the time I headed home.

The parents have arrived for the weekend, so had fun last night with them sitting in the garden and having dinner. Packed them off to bed early (well, they had been up since 4 to get on the red eye from Aberdeen) so they are fully refreshed today!

The boys (my Dad, myself and two fellow Aberdonians, 1 who lives in London and one who's visiting) are all off to Wembley today to watch the playoffs. We are all football fans and watch it where we can when we are together (that did include an under 15's school match once - yes we are that sad) and the opportunity to go to Wembley was too much. Can't wait.

Tomorrow see's another busy day in Oxfordshire. Meeting a potential photograpgher and then on to the wedding venue to see it finally finished! They are hosting a party tonight to celebrate Laurence Oliver 100th birthday, so it will be a star studded event apparently, which officially opens the place since it's been re-done. All very exciting.

Oh, and new car looks like it's on the way...if all things work out and I like it, should get it at the end of next week.

I have an interest in animals these days, with cows rapidly becoming a speciality. However this story I liked - Dairy cows in Spain get water beds, air con and Mozart to improve yield. LINK

Now, onto more important matters - what happened last night to Liverpool? They could easily have won it, with Stevie G fluffing a shot he should have buried. They lost an unlucky goal just before half time, which improved my level of regard for Inzaghi - I think he's one of the most over-rated strikers in top level football.

Overall, they did well to get there, should have won but where unlucky. Maserchano should have been left on the park though as I don't think they would have scored the second with him to break it up.

Always next season...

I know it's the way it works, but I wish politicians would realise how stupid they sound sometimes.

The issue of HIPS seems to have come to a head, and good riddance for the moment. As I see it, there are a number of issues:

1 - there is EU legislation that says all the member states need to be able to show emisions on housing by 2009

2 - the government took bad advice on what else could be wrapped into the HIPS by people who were actually going to make money out of it (nothing new there...)

3 - mis-information supplied/spoken by government ministers on the numbers of people qualified.

I can see a benefit to them, but only if they provide something useful. An energy rating on a new house is useful. But if I'm looking at buying a victorian terrace, I know it's going to have rubbish loft insulation, no cavity walls and probably a fairly old boiler. So what's the point?

What has also annoyed me is David Camerons response. "How can you support green issues when you don't support this". Make your mind up man, a week ago you didn't want them. Stop bleating, get some policies and a position - people are looking for alternatives. Had an election come immediatly after your appointment, you'd have got in. But people want action, and your just letting off steam just now. Goodwill doesn't last forever.

Gorgeous day in Worcester, stunning sunshine. Makes a change from the recent spell of wet and windy weather.

Last night we all met up at the Cardinals Hat, followed by a great (but SO SLOW) meal at Amigos. The food there is great but just takes so long to come. They actually turned a couple away - there were only 12 people in the place and it seats about 70!!!

Come on you reds!

Ah, sweet feeling of success :-) Aberdeen win to finish third in the SPL, and with it comes European Football next season. Happy day yesterday, especially as to do it we beat Rangers who, to be fair, had it coming as we'd not taken any points from the forces of darkness all season, and it would have been the first time since the 70's we'd gone a year without taking any points off them.

So, just need Celtic to win the cup and we go into the first round proper of the UEFA cup - if Dunfermline fluke it, then we go to the qualifiers and they go to the 1st round. Seems a stupid way of doing it, as they were relegated this year, but what can you do. The SPL really should make it 3rd and 4th get the UEFA spot as last year it was Gretna in the UEFA cup and they were also in division 1. It's 21 years since Aberdeen got past the 2nd round in the cup (got close in the early 90's - Rico's 35 yard thunderbolt in 92 (?) nearly put us through.

So, all in all, good day, an optimism for next season what with the signing of Macnamara.

Also, did you know, Aberdeen has one of the most "1st"s in football? 1st team in the UK to have an all seater, all covered stadium? 1st team to have dug outs in the UK? 1st team to lose on penalties in a European competition? 1st team to win 2 European trophies in Scotland? I could go on :-)

Stand Free, Wherever you may be, We are the famous Aberdeen!

Traffic problems

Having spent a year complaining about my 3Com router, I think it needs a slight apology. The problem I have with it is that occasionally (and always when I'm in a hurry) my wireless router gives me an IP, but refuses to connect to the Internet. After rebooting it a few times it springs into life, but sometimes it just takes a while. On closer inspection, it gets a connection with the ISP, has an IP, all is well. But I can't get out and use it.

Friday morning saw this occur. I decided to investigate it further. Turns out about 4 layers into the config, hidden very well in a menu you'd never find, there is a setting which determines how the connection is initiated. It was set (by default I would add!) to be "only on traffic", and not "always on". I changed the setting to be always on, it immediately sprang to life. So hopefully, that's one of life's little challenges resolved, but why would you ever want your ADSL line to connect only on traffic? Especially when the router doesn't work when it gets traffic. Answers on a postcard...

Late night music

Late night last night, trying to fix a wireless issue. Now resolved, but meant leaving the office about 3 hours later than I would normally to get back to London. On the plus side, the drive home was bliss with no traffic on the M25 at all, so did it in record time: and no, I wasn't speeding officer! I had cruise set the whole time. Bit of chilled out music on the stereo (Zero 7 and then some Beth Orton) and all was good in the world.

I actually changed the CD's in the autochanger yesterday for the first time in ages. Zero 7 is a great CD to have in the car on evening/late night drives where you just pass the miles by on the motorway and I forgot just how good it was. It got me thinking about bands I'd seen live with my other half as we'd seen Zero 7 and loved it. I've been to more gigs in the last few years in London than ever, in fact I'd only been to about 5 before that (although, that included REM at Murrayfield, Oasis at the same place and U2 at Celtic Park which was just brilliant). It also included Neil Finn, who is one of my favourite musicians who I've seen a couple of times now as well. We've had to cut down on gig going at the moment as all the money we would normally spend on gigs is going into the wedding fund, but one we had to get is Beth Orton with Bert Jansch and Bernard Butler at Somerset House. It's going to be such a summer highlight for me. Can't wait.

Baa

A most enjoyable game of squash last night, although we must both have been tired (or fitter?) as I was not nearly as purple as I was after the last game. This was followed up by a meal in Amigos, where as always, the food was good buut we had to wait for it. At least you know it's fresh!

Our new office is taking shape with people settling into where they are supposed to be. One collegue has decided he wants to stay in the old office as the new office has a few connectivity issues. His rants over processes and paperwork are pretty annoying, and have led me to ensure the reason he isn't in the correct place (wireless access) is resolved quickly so I can get on with my work and not listen to bleating all day long.

Wedding update: the current search for a photographer is ongoing. There is however now a shortlist, and so some meetings need to be setup to meet with them and look over their work in more detail. There is so much more to it than you'd imagine, with the current big debate being if we should go digital or film. Film has an appeal for old times sake, although as my other half and her sister have an issue with photos in that they always have their eyes shut in them, there is a risk that all the photos have me grinning like a goon and her with her eyes shut.

Decisions, decisions....

Another day, another game of squash. Played again last night with a collegue, and we are definitely getting better! I'm a little worried as at some point his fitness will improve and I could be in trouble then, but the shots are beginning to come back now. Have semi mastered the forehand off the back wall, but still struggle with the same shot on the backhand. I mean, I know the theory on how to do it, just need to practise it!

Playing again tonight, see if the body will hold up as last night was a hard game that took it out of me (few aches and pains), tonight will be the same if not more so.

Work have gone admin crazy. They have implemented a new system to track holidays and probable hours that you'll work. Which is rediculous, as there is already a system for booking holiday, the resource people know when you project end date is, and for the majority of people, the hours are pretty standard throughout the year. So a nice way of creating more work while already having the information available.

Football chat

So, the feeling I had has happened - Sheffield now want to get the Premier League to be 21 clubs next season. Never going to happen. I mean, fair enough, Tevez has saved West Ham single handed and Sheffield may not have got relegated had West Ham not had him, but it's over.

As with all these things though, there is too much money riding on it for them to let it lie...

Silly season has started with Aberdeen now as well, with claims Garry O'Conner could be coming to Aberdeen. Get a grip - he's on 17K a week. The highest paid player at Pittodrie is on about 3K a week so you can see if that'll come off...When we can't sign a player from Holland because his transfer fee is 70K, you get the idea of Scottish football finances.

Apologies for lack of posting, it's been hectic!

Wedding was superb, absolutly brilliant. Venue was lovely, the hotel the bride & groom were staying in was very nice indeed. We however where in a room with a sea view, I think the closest I've ever stayed to the sea (across the road). However, the hotel itself hadn;t seen much redecoration since the 70's, but we were there for such a short time it didn't matter.

Saturday was spent recovering and sleeping. Watched King Kong on DVD, which I thought was brilliant, but WAY too long. Sunday we went to a bbq (yes, I know it was very wet in the south!) with the people from the wedding and to send the bride & groom on their honeymoon. Was a really nice afternoon, chatting, catching up.

All in all, a happy weekend :-)

Kilts and weddings

Off to a wedding in the kilt today, very exciting, so I'll leave you with this...

A man was driving down the road and ran out of petrol. Just at that
moment, a bee flew in his window.
The bee said, "What seems to be the problem"?
"I'm out of petrol."
The bee told the man to wait right there and flew away.
Minute later, the man watched as an entire swarm of bees flew to his car and
into his petrol tank. After a few minutes, the bees flew out.
"Try it now," said one bee.
The man turned the ignition key and the car started right up.
"Wow!" the man exclaimed. "What did you put in my gas tank"?

The bee answered..."BP"