People watching - gotta love Public Transport

I'll start by confirming the fact I'm a strong Labour supporter, can't remember if I've said that before, but I have now. This standing has been reinforced by almost every action our wonderful new coalition government has chosen to bestow on us. I used to 'not mind' the Lib Dems before a combination of them using very strong arm tactics in the last election and selling themselves out for the slightest bit of power for their 'kingmaker' leader Clegg.

You may be thinking this has nothing to do with the title and you're 40% right but there is a link bare with me. 

Every morning I take the train to work, which according to the condems I'm too lazy to do, and every morning the train is full to the absolute rafters (If it had rafters) of people commuting from the valleys line to Cardiff. IDS can flock off as can every Con and Lib Dem in my eyes!

But back to the point, this very full train does give the opportunity to carry out one of lifes lost arts, people watching. Now I don't look classy going to work, today I have on a 10ish year old Welsh rugby top 'n' jeans, but you do wonder where some of these people are going. There's a good number of people in shirts, ties, trousers the usual. There's women in what I suppose you'd call business suits etc. But where oh where is the man in the addidas tracksuit off? Is there a a job that requires you to be that chavvy?

What about the woman at the end of the train who appears to have some kind of hair rollers still in. Proper old school hair rollers like I've seen my mother use dozens of times, but even then not for 15 years! Is now really the time to be doing your hair anyway?

There's various selections of people, some like myself, would rather be left alone to do whatever I'm doing (the computer helps, I think people assume I'm watching porn or something). There are people, like the guy opposite me who keeps trying to make eye contact - no chance Pedro, who feel the need to try and pass the 50-whatever minutes by making new friends. 

Every now and again we get strong religious types who will wander person to person, taking full advantage of the captive audience to try and convert all the heathens to God, and stop the likes of me sitting round watching porn 9I really don't, I'm writing this aint I!).

Students going between Cardiff and Treforest typically stick out a mile. There's a bunch of guys standing by the middle carriage doors now, if it looks like a student, and smells like a student... then it probably is a student! But that's harsh, I shouldn't generalise!!

To be fair today is Friday, so there's a good percentage less ties. Clearly Cardiff offices operate a dress down Friday rule, which just means you can have an open collar. Not really dressing down to any real degree. I remember being told by a mate who works in a office with that very policy, he was dressing down today and he loved it. He turned up for lunch looking exactly the same. I always picture days like that as like school non-uniform days. But I'm lucky enough to have a 'wear whatever' policy, so maybe I just don't appreciate it enough. 

But to be fair most people on here are normal looking enough... maybe those are the most worrying ones....

While I have your attention, all you iPhone users out there, was recommended a superb game app yesterday. Get your behind to the app store and have as search for 'Game Dev Story' simple but so engrossing. Basically you should be able to guess the type of game from the name, but with but cutsey 16 bit graphics it all works a charm. Much recommended.

Only downside is I played it quite a bit yesterday and then said bye bye iPhone battery. I need to get one of those battery pack things, any donations to my paypal account!!

Cyalaterz

Give me my money back you bitch

I'm a little late jumping on to moan about this, as it happened Sunday, and anyone following my twitter would have already gathered my thoughts on this, but this Sunday I one of the biggest non-voluntary groups in the UK as a victim of crime.

Sunday was the Welsh Open of dodgeball. in sunny Pentwyn Leisure Centre, Cardiff. I led 'The Hoffmeisters' into battle as I have done several times before. We didn't enjoy the best of afternoons, firstly being let down by several people, some with valid reasons, others with unspecified ones! Then we proceeded to win just a solitary match (3-2 against the Ceredigion Pirates), coming 4th in our group and crashing out of the tournament.

But during the day the revelation struck that a team member, who shall remain nameless, had returned to our communal locker but when locking up had left several items of clothing out, resulting in some piked, chavvy SOB going through my stuff and nicking my wallet. Not the most intelligent clearly as in the same pocket was my bank card and the opposite pocket my phone, which would have had far better rewards than the cash in my wallet and a Credit Card they couldn't use.

Luckily the police guy handling has high hopes of a conviction in this instance. Let's hope yeah!

Osborne, butcher of downing street or saviour of our economy?

OK, who could have possibly predicted I'd use this space today to rant/praise the governments cuts? Everyone? Well congratulations everyone you were right!

Before I get started, I will say thank you Sky f**king News (keeping it clean-ish) for once again using my home town of Merthyr Tydfil as a demonstration of the 'bottom end of the barrel'. Really, they produced one biased, set up report once and now they want to turn the screw. Merthyr may be a dive, and believe me there are parts that would make your eyes bleed, but it's not the worst, not by a long shot.

Anyway to open, I work in the private sector, my job doesn't reply on the government, although the company itself has never been shy of a handout/grant etc which may not be quite so forthcoming in future, but generally despite yesterday, I'm confident my job is secure. However, I do feel for the 500,000 public sector workers who will be out of work once the condems are done. It could have been me, I had the opportunity of taking a job as an analyst with South Wales Police not long ago, but stayed where I was. I can be pretty sure if I had moved, I'd be right in the firing line now.

From scanning what's happened, I do feel it could have been worse. E.g. The NHS is getting rises (small ones really but at least it's not cuts, not even cuts against inflation) but for the most part, I can only say I'm feeling far from confident.

I've blogged previously on my  thoughts for university changes and they've come to fruition, but other things such as cuts in police budgets and welfare budgets don't sound promising. Regarding benefit cuts, there are people out there who cheat the system, get more than they deserve and they've in no small way contributed to overspends, my concern is, with sweeping cuts are they going to really be able to filter out the deserving from the scrounger? I do have a horrible feeling the scrounger will continue to try and find ways around the system, while the genuine people will suffer. But that's the way of the world these days.

Also, I'm waiting to see exactly how half a million extra dole claimers will combine with less money available for them...

Police cuts are also a concern, 4% a year will hurt them, and at a time where their jobs are getting increasingly difficult. There's a risk that they may lose some front line officers (although doubtless savings can be made elsewhere too), while at the same time crime may rise in a poorer environment, leading too.. well not ideal circumstances. But I may be being a drama queen, we would have to wait to see what the police cut before jumping to conclusions.

Plus aren't interest payments going to rise for the next few years???

Generally it's not great news and, while I don't claim to be an expert as you can gather from reading above, it doesn't sit overly easy with me. But we'll wait and see, I might by an annual train ticket now before they go up by inflation + 3%...

Kinect - a gaming revolution?

The time is quickly approaching that Microsft will be releasing their XBOX 360 peripheral, Kinect.

Aint it perdy?

Now Kinect (I preferred Natal) is billed as something that will fully revolutionise the way everyone games, removing controllers from the mix. I have a mate who managed to get is backside on the Beta testing program (jammy b*stard) and he can't stop raving about how good it is, how responsive how accurate etc. This is a guy who as a rule knows his stuff and his opinion can be very much trusted.

However, I'm far from convinced.

I've been through this 'new way of gaming stuff before' I picked up a Wii on launch day and was memorised by the way things played. Wii Sports was accurate, responsive and all those things, but after not a hell of a lot of time, it felt gimmicky. Third party titles came out that the developers had either not grasped how to program for the Wii, leading to difficult to play games, or were just lazily adding motion controls to existing titles to shift a few dozen more units.

I have a horrible feeling Kinect will do the same for me. For the first 3 or 4 weeks, it'll be amazing. I wont be able to believe I ever had to push a button to play stuff, what a fool was I! But then I wont feel like standing up, or some new games will arrive, as immense cost and be plainly rubbish and I'll long for my 360 pad again.

Plus there's the cost, these 'controllers' will not be cheap, in fact they will laugh in the face of cheap and mock just how cheap it is. Weighing in at £130 (you can get them cheaper but this is the RRP so Game/Gamestation will charge that at least, and probably a little more just cos people will pay it) you can actually guy an 360 for less. For your £130 you get the controller (at least you only need one) and 1 piece of software, Kinect Adventures. Any further games are full price, pocket destroying.

I have a preorder in place in Game in Swansea. It's not mine but when my (same) mate (I have more than one, I'm just only referring to him at the mo) found out his Beta testing kit was his, I inherited his preorder, but the closer I get to the day, the more I'm thinking, do I really want it? Can I really justify the outlay for something which seems to gimmicky? The more I think about the the more I'm thinking not.

Now, at this point I can add I've never actually played using it. It could be what I've been looking for all these years, I just don't know it yet. But chances are it's not, it'll be fun for a bi then gather dust. Actually I think writing this has just made my mind up!!

I read something perfect on the GamesTM forum yesterday, it basically said what will people prefer in the long run, playing with a invisible steering wheel, or feeling the rumble and feedback from a real one/controller. Well when you say it like that... (sorry can't find post again to link too!)

Microsoft know one thing, Kinect will be a success, it will sell millions and be impossible to get hold of (now thinks about keeping preorder and selling for Christmas... hmmm <evil laugh>) but it may not be one with people like me (I'm pretty sure there's not many people wanting to be put into that category) but the Wii inspired casual market and kids, and after all kids are the future. The Wii captured a market, that very market and it's understandable Microsoft want a chunk of it I suppose. I just hope it doesn't become compulsory on too many games.

I think I'll get Fable 3 instead, wait that's Kinect compatible... here we go again...

Return to the gym!

Tomorrow... tomorrow is going to be hard work. Tomorrow is the day I will return to the gym to begin training.

It's been a while, 6 months ago I was in quite good shape, stamina was good, could cover 10k with relative ease, could push myself considerably further, then generally things went tits up. Knee problem, appendix removal, another knee problem and I'm the size of a whale again, as if I'd never bothered training a moment in my life. (Let's face it it's not even a cute whale, like the one from Free Willy, it's a blimp of an obnoxious whale, like one of the ones what washes up on beaches and people can't get it back cos it's so heavy)

I dread to think what's going to happen once I venture back to the open plan area that is Merthyr Tydfil Leisure Centre cardio area, plus I also must to some upper body work after being absolutely embarrassing on a climbing wall this year. I'm not planning on doing anything too strenuous first time out, maybe 2 or 3 miles and a bit of rowing.

I will of course be surrounded by a strange combination that can only ever exist in a gym, lots of men who are in worse shape than me, lots of women who don't seem to actually do anything and then a few overly fit people that make us all feel bad.

Next Sunday is the always awesome Welsh Open of dodgeball and once again I'll be captaining the Hoffmeisters into action following a poor showing last time out. Don't mock, I can see your minds working dodgeball is a sport and a damn competitive one. Check it out http://www.ukdba.org/

Anyway, I'll post on my twitter feed how I've done and if I've lived. Until tomorrow!

Last Stop - Short Story

It was early, “it was always early about this time, funnily enough” he thought to himself. He lifted himself out of bed and walked to the bathroom. With a quick tug he turned on the light and examined himself in the mirror.

Within 20 minutes he was at the front door, ready to go. He locked the door of the little flat and walked the half mile to the train station. He checked his watch, he had a good 20 minutes until it was due, he had time. He passed joggers, dog walkers, the  acted like they didn’t even see him, even if they did at all. Dogs would usually give him a second glance, but would be dragged off by their owners before they ever reacted. It was a shame really, he loved dogs.

He walked past the shop to his left. The owner out the front instructing a paper boy on the fastest route. He would have loved to have stopped, but that’s not what he did. He had to keep on going, after all he had a train to catch.

The path to the train station was quiet, after all it was early, not many people were out of bed and commuting at this time. Thoughts of plans filled his head, he’d arranged a meal for after work with a young lady, a friend but maybe more. He wondered what she was doing now. He sighed and ploughed on.

The train was at the station now so he walked straight on. Found the same seat he found every day and sat down. Only a few minutes later the train pulled away and the journey began. It was all very routine but it was his routine.

He looked around the train recognising faces he knew, faces he’d seen years ago. Still carrying on their daily routines as if nothing ever changed. They’d become older, yes, but their faces were still full on life, while he felt so drained. How he envied them for that.

Three of four stops had passed, people had come and gone. He’d remained anonymous in his seat, people watching to pass the time. Mainly the train was full of workers, if anyone selling awful ties and gray suits were to come on, they’d make a fortune he joked to himself. That was his first smile of the day!

The train stopped between two small stations at a signal. It hadn’t always done so, sometimes people would take a risk, a chance, but not since that day. Oh no, now people stuck to the rules. The signal changed and the train pulled away.

He’d leave the train here, this is where it happened. The thoughts of the noise and the screeching came to him once again and he felt saddened. He thought of the moment he felt something strike him, how he’d begged and prayed it wouldn’t happen, but there was nothing anyone could have done.

He closed his eyes as the world started to fade, this was it for him, the final stop on the route. As he drifted into black he opened his eyes for a last look around.  Said goodbye to the people, “I’ll see you tomorrow” he thought.

As he left, he’d swear someone turned to look at him, just for a second..

At what price further education?

Our wonderful government plan to remove the cap on tuition fees in Universities. This could result in courses costing over £7,000 a year. This concerns me, it concerns me a great deal.

Obviously the idea behind this is to raise more money for the Universities allowing them to provide better facilities. But provide them to who. By pricing a degree at over £21,000, plus loan debt (which they also plan to increase the interest on massively) it will take the option of University away from many many people. Yes, the very poorest will get help, but what about people who are not rich just not what the government consider to be poor?  They will surely struggle to fund such enormous costs, and their children will be burdened with debts that will spiral over time.

I went to Uni, but sadly things didn't work out for me, but even though I only part completed my course, I left with a wedge of debt, which as soon as I hit £15k started... very slowly... being paid back. Now for a littel more relief the cap will be £21k but even before you reach that, and you'd expect almost all graduates to get there even not if straight away, the debt will be building. It would almost make Uni not worthwhile.

I have a daughter, she wont be headed off to further education just yet, she's only 2! But by the time she is 18 I dread to think what the costs will have escalated too. I hope she turns into some intellectual legend and gets a scholarship, otherwise I really don't see how I'm going to fund it. Short of me getting a run of jaw dropping pay rises.

Last academic year British Universities had record entries, entries to the point where not everyone could be placed. Mental, and so so encouraging. The pessimistic side of me thinks this new rule is also partially to ensure headcount matches places. If a good percentage of applicants are put off applying, the system wont really lose and will get more cash. Plus the richer (Traditional Tory support??) will have no problems affording the new costs and their kids will be in! I hope it doesn't start driving a educational gap between the classes.

It even affects me! I was looking at going back to study part time and maybe earn that degree that eluded me. But not at those prices!

In Westminster the Lib Dems know it's wrong but they sold themselves so easily for a slice of power they've left themselves powerless to oppose the Tory policy. I know alot of their voters who regret their decision to vote towards king-maker Cleggs cronies. Thankfully (in a way) I live in a Labour seat, usually a safe one but came under Lib Dem pressure last time after some seriously heavy handed campaigning by the local Lib Dem candidate (Honestly a couple of thousand trees must have died to cover the leaflets, I'm sure they were arriving hourly at one point!)

Never again please, Labour weren't perfect, but they had the people in mind. NHS next, who knows what, 'encouraging' people to go private to save costs? Cutting necessary staff to save a quid? As long as it doesn't overly bother the South East! How long til the next election... :(

Blogging

Wow a blog about blogging, that's never been done before...

It has struck me the whole blogging process is an unusual one, a blog is essentially an area where anyone an express any (well nearly any) opinion some anyone else to read. But the question is, who reads mine? I know some people who know me read this (Hi guys!!) but what about the rest of the peeps out there? Do they stumble in, find it boring and leave, do they find it interesting and come back? Of the couple of hundred or so reads I've had, are they all unique? Do I have regulars?

All questions I'll never really know the answer too, and I kind of like it that way. If I knew certain people read I may become paranoid about what I write. Could you risk expressing dissatisfaction about work if you thought your boss would read it? Would you slag your neighbours if they might stumble across your rant while searching for Alan Titchmarsh hints on bing?

To look at this I thought about the way I read others blogs, and to be honest my first thought was I rarely do. Usually I'll randomly come across one and read while searching for a topic on google, but I've never subscribed/followed. So why would I expect anyone to do any more for me?

Truth is I don't, I find writing these blogs quite relaxing and would carry on if I never had another hit again (blog hit, I've never had a hit single). If I wanted to rapidly increase the volume of readers I'd put the link on Facebook, but no I can't see that happening, I doubt all my 'friends' would get what I write, some would don't get me wrong but Facebook friends and real friends regularly don't add up. Well maybe once just to see what would happen, I'll wait til I write something more interesting first though. Maybe do something different, like.. a sing-along blog... all together now, "A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do... don't plan the plan if..." no? OK for the best.

But I do wonder, how many people out there write blogs for fun, enjoyment etc and how many do it for attention? Obviously both types exist, that's human nature as Jacko once sang. Do people use this type of stuff to try and get chances in media? Could that ever happen?

Primarily I think the world of blogging is a wild and varies one and something that will always be enjoyable to me. Far more enjoyable than the shambles of a football (soccer) side my country turns out. Beat 4-1 by Switzerland, that's an awfully attacking display for such a neutral country!!

Anyway, until the moro peeps.

When a luxury becomes a necessity.

I have a fairly cushy life, the majority of people in the UK do (for now, the Torys aren't in full swing yet).

Yes, like with most people, I don't live in a palace, a castle etc but I have running water, more than enough food, a bed, a roof and access to healthcare. There are places on this planet where people would kill for any of them, but I/we take them for granted.

I thought I was quite grounded, until I moved home recently which resulted in a slight fall in my access to things such as TV, Internet, XBOX. These things are almost the definition of luxury, but there were times where not having these things really put my nose out. It was at this point I thought, when did these things become THAT necessary? I even have a dongle, at some expense, so I have a backup internet source (using it now!!), so just incase I'm out of wifi range, my iPhone hasn't got signal, I can still grab my spare laptop (smaller one so more portable) and check twitter http://www.twitter.com/andrewdrisc or post here.

The counter argument is we have worked hard for these luxuries and deserve them, and to be honest it's an argument I'm happy to hide behind!

I wonder whether many people of my generation could last without Sky Sports (maybe people would travel to the grounds to see sport?), without games consoles, without Facebook (which I dislike anyway) without email, IM, etc

To be honest I would probably fail horribly, but honestly I don't even want to try. If that makes me a bad person, I apologise whole heartedly.

Complaining - The only way to get your way?

Firstly, I've been a very lazy blogger. I've let things such as no Internet and doing lots of work on a house stop me!! Honestly where are my priorities!

As people who have read one of my earlier blogs would know, I've had some trouble with the ISP for my previous address, namely Plusnet. All those who give a damn will now love to hear I have cancelled with them, by avoiding their ludicrous cancellation rules. How did I do this? I complained that's how!

This lead me to think, I've dealt with numerous companies over the years, and they seem to have vastly varying levels of service. When I've come across the worst of this service and they refuse to do even the most basic of reasonable requests, I've gone straight through to complain.

My question is, should it be that way?

Why do basic service level employees of some companies stick so rigidly to obstructive practices? Personally I don't blame them, a human can only act within the freedom they're given and in the majority of companies I'm talking about, common sense and free thought is not encouraged.

Plus net are an example (sorry to bang on) their staff could have solved my problem in 20 seconds with a quick phone call, but they refused. Eventually their complaints manager (James Bailey, very helpful man) solved the situation with a 20 second call. Could not somebody at another level have already done this, they prob spent longer than that writing my response telling me they couldn't call. They wasted their time, my time writing the complaint and the Complaint Managers time looking into it and contacting me.

A bit of common sense at the start and things would have been done much much faster.

There must be 1000's of examples every day where customers have to complain about blatantly unfair procedures to get any joy. If companies a) treated their staff as things other than trained monkeys or b) considered the customer over whatever obstructive procedure was in the way in the first place they'd be more efficient and maybe they'd have happier customers.

Of course, there are financial benefits in being disruptive, if someone knowingly overcharged 50,000 customers and only 20,000 complain, they've made the extra on 30,000. Which very well may make any costs involved in handling the 20,000 complaints worthwhile. For example, if they delay had taken me into an new month with Plusnet, they'd have pocketed my £15 happily.

My advice, take nothing that seems unfair as read, kick up a fuss and you may get some joy. I've done the complaint handlers job before, and if most companies are like my employers, once it gets to complaint, the staff have the freedom to make fair decisions and the desire to do so also.

TTFN - Expect another post later, I'm brimming with ideas today!

An early morning jog

I'm shocked but somehow not surprised how unfit I've become. It's been a while since I did anything like training, my body has once again conspired against me to ensure the waistline expands.

I  was looking in quite good shape, for me, up until about 7/8 weeks ago, covering 6 or 7 miles at a time in the gym with no real hassle, ready for a 10k building up nicely for my 2nd attempt at a half marathon (all in aid of Velindre) then late one Saturday night I developed a pain in my side, a trip to the hospital and an operation later and I was sans appendix.

This left me unable to stand without looking like Quasimodo for weeks, thanks to a few complications, unable to train for longer. In fact to this day I'm still on doctors advice to 'take it easy' after my knee also went a bit funny moving house.

But this morning my current condition was brought into sharp focus, I was sauntering round the corner near Pentrebach train station when I saw the train pull in. Panic kicked in and I broke into a full on sprint (thankfully you can't really see me running from the platform). Thanks to an understanding train guard, who luckily did manage to spot me I made it, but I was shocked that a sprint of what could me no more than 150m left me absolutely knackered. Yes, it was uphill and twisty (the way up was along a disabled access ramp so went round a bit) but I know 3 months ago I would have done it faster, and been able to speak when I got on the train.

This has made me think, I need to get back into it, I can see already I've put on weight and that's a bad start, and somewhere I've been before (18 1/2 stone at my peak, and I look back at photos.. aghast sometimes). So first chance I get, back to the gym it is. Yes I know some people will think if it's only weight is the issue, diet. I'm of the opinion dieting doesn't work, or at least doesn't work alone, just as exercise wouldn't. Dieting is essentially partially starving yourself of certain things in order to force your body into a reaction, I'd rather eat properly (not stupidly) and work my body too, that's what we were designed to do, that is what I shall do.

Not tomorrow night though, tomorrow night I've gone and acquired nice seats to watch my blessed homeland get beat at football by Bulgaria, at the 'lovely' Lego Brick Stadium. Should be a good laugh and a few pints. But after that... gym all the way!

This time next year, I'll deliberately be late, just so I can sprint to the train and show it doesn't bother me! OK I wont, that would be stupid but I know what I mean! Hopefully next year I'll be able to do what I planned this, Swansea Bay 10k, Cardiff 10k, Cardiff Half Marathon. I'll be making my comeback to sports hopefully on the 24th in the Welsh dodgeball open, I haven't been arsed to sort the entry yet, but it's on my to do list. GO HOFFMEISTERS!

I've always had these crazy ideas of wanting to do more as well, to do exciting things. The woman I sit next to in work is climbing Kilimanjaro next year and it sounds horrible, cold, hard, etc and I find myself borderline jealous, I'd love to do that. I've always wanted to do the 24 hour version of the three peaks. I could never do any of these in my current condition of course, I can't even run for the bloody train,and one thing I'm not getting is any younger, but they are things I want to do.

But even the longest journey must start from where you stand as Lao Tzu once said, and he wasn't a stupid man. Stay tuned to this blog if you want to know how I'm doing, or even if you don't I'm not about to turn the blog into some kind of rocky style training montage. I'll still write about whatever's on my mind at the time... with no discernible pattern or structure...

The Apprentice!

It's that time of year again, the (apparently) most acceptable form of reality TV has hit our screens. The 12(?) week long advert for how great Lord Sugar is upon us, The Apprentice!

Only coupled with the amstrad love, this year he's got a book out which no doubt will be written into the subtext of as many episodes as he can force. Mentions of his past will creep in, prompting people to think, hmmm amazon.

The list of candidates appear to be... questionable. The men has a leader who's CV must have town crier on it at some point. The guy was loud, pointless and annoying. One of them I've felt the urge to slap since the moment he opened his gob. This fecker (Stuart?) even has hair that looks like he wants to be Wolverine, what a dick!

The women's team seems far more sensible but at this stage that usually is the case, as men are far more eager to look stupid on TV. But to be fair, the final scenes in the house made them all look like dicks. I've always been a fan of the apprentice, even if not of the whole reality TV genreThis series better get better!!

On Alibi at the same time as the BBC's version of Big Brother (Well it is) is the excellent Castle. Nathan Fillion the ever charismatic lead feels fresh and interesting, even though it's not particularly!

I'll continue to watch The Apprentice no doubt, as it typically does get more interesting... Hmmm yeah I'm sure.

In personal news, I'm in the new house! No longer (a version of I suppose, I admitted the melodramatic nature of the statement aaaaaaaages ago) homeless. We have water, sky, power and lots of belongings we can't quite track down yet but "Must be in there somewhere". Won't be long we'll be able to class ourselves as 'moved in'! I may even celebrate finding my xbox, that is when we do find my xbox, not happened yet, by getting myself the F1 game. Looks like it rocks.

Man Flu

Yesterday I had a rather nasty little pain in my throat, not exactly going to make me break down and cry, after all I'm a man, but annoying, particularly around any time I had to swallow something, which being a greedy fat bloke, tends to happen quite a bit. 

Towards the end of yesterday the nose was getting clogged, the occasional sneeze was drifting into the equation. It was the kind of one nostril blockage (the left one if anyone's interested) and blowing it ended up hurting my throat all over again.

This morning I wake up, and bam (bam? Thta's the best word I could think of? Seriously??) it's here. The throat has teamed up with the head, who've run a triple play with the nose (still a solitary nostril though, the right one must be like a resistance cell against the virus. Vive la resistance!) and given me a cold. But as no doubt I'll be told within 67 seconds of sniffing once in the office today, it's not a cold, not even a heavy cold, it's...

Man Flu

Now, beyond being uncomfortable, the cold wont really bother me all that. Few lost seconds finding a tissue maybe, few extra puffs on my asthma inhaler certainly. But I can be certain, if I do show any sign of weakness every woman for 3 floors around will break into the traditional, "Oh look at him, he's got man flu, it's only a code big baby, men are rubbish when they're ill... blah blah friggin blah" lines! 'Cos of course a woman's never overreacted to an illness ever.

In fact I'm sure I remember reading that men actually can hold up a little better than women on times. But bring that up and then childbirth rears it's head. I'm sure childbirth is hell, but so is being hit in the nuts with a cricket ball. I'll never understand the pain of squeezing one out, women will never understand the pain of being bowled middle stump with a corgi ball. 

There are kidney stones, which by all accounts have comparable pain levels, but that can happen to either of us (and indeed it was suspected I had them til it turned out to be appendicitis) and I'm not fancying getting them just for a comparison. 

My plan for the morning is basically, get off train (I am on the train this time), go to boots, get tablets, go to work. No cold will stop me, slow me down yes but not stop me.

On a better note, the house is coming along better, we have a bed, a settee and having sky fitted today. The furniture is gradually being moved in and the kitchen may be done today! Woo-hoo! Well that's if I can manage to carry any of it, or I may be stricken down with my near fatal case of the sniffles. 

Techno snobbery!

I like my gadgets, I haven't go the cash for many but I have a few. Nothing fancy, I don't almost fall over my robot dogs every time I Segway myself to answer the door, after hearing my mp3 doorbell 9but thinking about getting one of those), but I have what you'd expect, decent (i)phone, decent Laptop, games console, netbook for the train (which I'm writing from at the moment, albeit not on the train)....

I also can assure you I have certain brands I like, apple for example have been good to me with everything I've owned from them, but I've never felt the needs to ensure everyone has the same as me.

I've never been 100% sure of the motives behind this form of techno-snobbery, I have a feeling it all comes back to acceptance and the need to be in a crowd  of similar people (I need massively lacking form me) but in these instances the crowd is somewhat nerdier. Mobile phones are typically the most talked about subject like this. At the mo there are two main camps.

In the green/red corner is the Apple users, the iPhone defendants etc

In the no colour joke springing to mind corner is the Android users, in particular at the moment the Galaxy-S users.

I'm not forgetting about you blackberry users, not going to drag you in, but watch your step. Nokia users... brand loyalty isn't always a good thing ;) (I'm kidding!)

Now both camps must be happy with their respective handsets, they own them and they use them. If they didn't like them I'm certain there would be forums literally bursting with comments, and far superior blogs to this melting from the volume of hits and comments being deposited every hour. But why do the two camps have to try and convert everyone else? It's like the Sim Card (or Micro Sim, sorry apple users) crusades on times!!

Each side will generally react to any question form a neutral, seeing it as a chance to assert their authority and get them to join their side. They'll generally respond aggressively to anyone who disagrees and I've seen many a name slung around!

But why? My theory is that geeks/nerds, call us what you will, like to feel a little superior, at least some of the time, and this is an outlet! If they can convince you they have the best item and had it before you, then clearly they must be more intelligent/a better judge/know more about xxx/etc (delete as appropriate) and also their wisdom is so obvious, you've fallen into line with them. Making them a more positive spin on Patient Zero.

Or could it be they see a world where everyone has the same device as them, a world that accepts them just that little bit more. Do they see a world where everyone has an iPhone 4 as 'their' world?

It's probably something good old Jezza Kyle could have a gander at and get illegitimate children in there somewhere too (Would an iPhone be the illegitimate child of a Blackberry Storm and a iPod Touch?)

In this blog, you're not going to read my opinion of what is best, I'm an iPhone user (3GS) and I love it, doesn't mean you would, but it does what I like and does it reasonably well (Flash anyone?) and I'll chances are step up to iPhone 4 next, but what you do... couldn't give a rats arse as long as you don't whinge to me about it!

And yes, I want an iPad...

Getting late but wide awake

There are some days it happens to everyone I'm sure, but today it's my turn. The local time is 1:20am, but I am awake as awake can be. Not even watching league two football on the creatively titled, 'football league programme' could dampen my state of absolute awakeness, so I though my blog must but a good percentage of the readers to sleep, let's see if writing one does the same for me!

Late nights do give you the chance to discover some wonderful things. Last night, while I'll be honest it wasn't all that late, I was treated to Giant Shark Vs Mega Octopus on Syfy (why the spelling I don't know, but I get the idea). I can honestly say I've never seen a film like it.... DREADFUL, awful acting, a romance subplot about as believable as an X-Factor sob story, a plot written by a 9 year old for a school homework project... oh dear. It was followed by something to do with fire which was apparently created by good old Bill Shatner and starred Xander from Buffy, but i didn't have the heart to watch it.

Tonight is better, after football I've found the excellent Children of Men on ITV4, much better indeed! Still get the same half life 2 vibe from teh last 3/4 of an hour or so now as I did when it first came out, superb stuff.

All that follows me pay day treating myself to teh Wrath of the Lich King expansion for WoW, I'm officially up to date! Now if I didn't suck at it so badly, I'd be in!

I'm pleased to announce my without-a-home days are officially numbered, most of the house is now habitable, carpets 80% down, kitchen workable but lacking tiles, we purchased a new kingsize bed today form Ikea. It's a matter of days, always a good sign is the sky is being installed Tuesday! Can't have a new house without a shiny new HD box now can you, although I did decline the £250 upgrade to a Tb box, OTT I feel!

Anyway I shall go take my many many tablets, oh the life of a diabetic, n try to sleep now.

Sweet dreams y'all

Oh and please forgive any spelling faux pas, I'm used to Chrome spell checking as I go, this is on IE8 and it doesn't!! Must upgrade tomorrow!

A golf tournament in October? In Wales? Nice thinking...

Welcome to October! Shockingly the South Wales weather has chosen this moment for the sky to open and deposit as much good old precipitation as possible onto the land below. Not an unusual thing for Wales or indeed for the UK as a whole to experience. Then why choose this moment to hold the biggest outdoor sports event Newport has ever seen in what is essentially a field, actually lets be exact, in essentially what is rapidly turning into a bog? Even as I type play has been suspended for hours!!

Did someone say 'first Monday finish ever??'

Overall I'm seeing the Ryder Cup as a good thing for the area, yes most of the money is kept by the Ryder Cup association or whatever the frig it's called, but it's still brought people to the area, and taking the prices at Celtic Manor as a guide, the type of people it brings have considerably more money than me. I may be wrong, but that kind of generalisation fits well with Golf's image as a whole, seen as an expensive sport for a privileged few who also hand round in the clubhouse in plusfors sipping pimms. Now I'm sure this isn't true, I used to play myself only under less glamorous surroundings (Caerphilly generally, if you know it, you'll know what I mean), but its an image.

The elite/rich nature of at least this particular golf event has however sent people into hyperactive "OhmygodIthinkIjustsaw" mode. Storys coming from Cardiff city centre yesterday included, Will Smith and Michael Jordan shopping for a basketball in JD sports (do you think they were going to shoot some b-ball outside of the school??), David Beckham in some 'exclusive' clothes shop on Churchill Way (I forget the name, but I can't afford to shop there anyway), maybe even Samuel L Jackson getting a chicken bake and a bottle of Dr Pepper in Greggs, St Davids arcade. Do date I have seen nothing in the way of evidence that any of these people have graced Cardiff in the slightest (Apart from Mickey Jordan who was posing for pics in Revolution) but I suppose they have to be staying somewhere.

The truth is, to make the most money you need to attarct the people with most disposal income, which lets face it these people are. But I digress, a month or 6 weeks ago it would have been an event bathed in sunshine, but now? Washout? 2 years ago Nick Faldo made a joke about bring waterproofs to Wales, and by all accounts people laid into him, I think all thouse people owe him an apology. The writing was on teh wall at the Wales Open last year which was delayed by rain.

but oh well, people not outside may spend more in the gift shop. £40k watch anyone?

Also, this is an experiment, I'm submitting this via email written on my lunch break, let's see if it works. But of course if it doesn't work, you won't see it, but you know what I mean. I think. Do you?

PS It didn't work, my email added a huuuuuuuge disclaimer to the end so I'm doing this normally!!