Skittles: DPAB march on

Our good form in Division 2 of the Penarth & District Skittles League continued last night as we put the Dinas Powys Legion side to the sword. In typically rumbustuos style, with Stockings leading the singing (or rather shouting), we ran out winners by 16 pins on a tough alley. Top scorer was Nightmare with 27 with Gilo on 26, whilst others including some of the big guns didn't overly trouble the scorers.
Champagne moment of the evening, Stockings' little canter in the near altogether aside, was Stabber leading the three cheers for the opposition and calling them the "Swanderers" instead of the DP Legion. For those of you that don't know, the Swanderers are the OTHER team from the pub we played last night, and his good intentions were met with a stony silence by the opposition (who are actually all great lads!)
As I'm sending this report by email from a train somewhere in Gloucestershire at 7.15 in the morning, there are no pics to accompany or links. Once I'm back from my trip to London though, I'll update our website (www.DPAB.co.uk) with a full report.

Christmas? We've only just had Easter!

I don't know where this year's gone. It's flown by. Doesn't seem that long since we were takingthe decorations down, and now it's nearly time to put them up again!
Are you one of those that just can't wait? The first "residential" Christmas lights I saw were on 26th November in a house not far from ours. Then on 1st December lights and trees started to spring up in houses all over the place. Now don't get me wrong, I like Christmas - I can even remember what it's all about - and despite what the marketeers would have us believe it's not about eating and drinking to excess and spending more than we can afford - but I baulk at putting up the decorations too early. However, neither am I one of those leave it to the last moment fellows, buying a knock down spindly tree on Christmas Eve (my kids would kill me!).
So, the exterior lights will probably be going up this weekend, and the tree the following weekend. But climate change has a lot to answer for. I was out in a t-shirt earlier on. Much as we know the season f goodwill is upon us (almost) it just doesn't feel like it. We need a good dose of cold, frosts, and dare I say it snow before it's really going to feel like Chrimbo. And no, my lights aren't like the picture....

Got a new motor!

Got my new car. Well, my "nearly new" car. As previously posted, I'm not into buying brand new motors.
This lovely shiny vehicle, is a late '06 model Ford Mondeo "Edge" 2.0 TDCi, in a very nice blue colour and I'm very pleased with it It's a step up from my previous, trusty Renault Scenic, giving me more comfort, power and a much better mpg return being a diesel.
I don't know if it's just the 4-5 years that's elapsed since I bought the Renault, or just that this version of the Mondeo is well equipped, but it has some great touches which I love. These include:

• rain sensing wipers - yes, you switch them on to intermittent wipe and the car works out how much water is going on to the screen and adjusts the wipe speed accordingly - clever or what? No, I don't know how it works either.
  
• auto headlights - set to auto, the lights come on automatically when the ambient light drops below a certain level. Handly for those who can't tell if it's dark - but then they shouldn't be behind the wheel anyway
  
• heated front windscreen - Ford have been doing this for years granted, and I think most of their models and ranges now come with this as standard. I don't know why other manufacturers don't do this (maybe they do?)

Early days yet obviously, but I'm looking forward to driving this car. I've always liked Fords - had a few before, and it's nice to be back.

Rubbish! City 0 - 2 Charlton

Timmy Mallet, erstwhile children's entertainer of some time ago, and this season's panto star at Porthcawl(?) was the half time entertainment at tonight's match. Need I say more? I shouldn't, the mood I'm in, but I will.
City were rubbish. No, utter rubbish. Not even that good.
I fear relegation.
If Dave Jones is still in a job by the weekend, I'll be surprised.
Rubbish, rubbish, rubbish.

This is the age - of the train. Not

I'm off to the Smoke on Thursday for an overnighter, on a course. The course should be ok. Good chance to meet up with some colleagues, maybe learn a bit and who knows, even get an hour or two of shopping in on Oxford Street?
The problem is though, I'm going (as usual) by train. I hate trains. They're normally, late, overcrowded, and are definitely overpriced. A standard class ticket from Cardiff comes to about £150. I'm going to be traveling back on Friday evening, some time between 5pm and 6pm which must be just about the worst time to travel from London. If I'm lucky I'll get a seat. If I'm not, chances are it's a stand from Paddington until at least Swindon or Bristol. That's what your £150 gets you. And they're putting the prices up!

A Tigerish Point: Hull 2 - 2 City

After their charter flight to Hull was diverted to Manchester and an emergency landing, City finally came away from the KC stadium with what seems to be a well earned point. Hull have been in good form lately, and were 1 up in 3 minutes, but Steve "The Tomahawk" Thompson equalised after 6 minutes. Kasper Schmeicel saved a penalty before Hull went ahead again just before the break. I was accepting defeat, when I got a late, late text which I thought was going to tell m that Hull had won, but which in fact said Roger Johnson had equalised for City in injury time. We don't get many late goals, so this one was very welcome indeed. I haven't seen a report, but seeing as how recent matches have gone, I'm guessing Jones threw Johnson on as an extra striker. I still reckon that he's one of the most consistent and committed players in the team. I'm certainly glad he was there today. The result still leaves us in 20th spot, but a win at home on Tuesday against Charlton could lift us to 15th, and we have a game in hand on most teams above us - that's the Blackpool game this month, and the seasiders are on place below us, so that'll be a big one..

Matthew Moment

Everyone I know that's important to me knows about this I think, including the person in question, so I'm happy to share this with you.

One night, late into my wife's first pregnancy with our first child, and some time after we'd agreed that if it was boy we'd call him Matthew, and if a girl we'd call her Bethan, I woke up, jabbed my wife from her sleep and said "I don't want to call him Matthew if he's a boy". I know not why to this day, I just had that "moment" when it just didn't seem right (apologies to anyone called Matthew who's reading this - no offence intended). Luckily, we had a close second choice, and when the little lad duly appeared, he was monickered "James" - and he's seemed quite happy with it through his 13 years to date.

Fortunately I didn't have that moment with our second, who was always Bethan, although ironically we had decided if it had been a boy it would have been Matthew but I didn't have any iffy moments the second time around.

Every now and again I get what I call my "Matthew moments" when an agreed and firm decision suddenly seems completely wrong. It's a funny feeling, and the challenge is deciding whether you stick to your guns, or go with the flow...

Mondeo Man

I've been toying with the idea of replacing my Renault Scenic for while (since it's all been paid off!), and much as I like the versatility the Scenic brings, I'm finding it's proving thirstier than I'd like for the miles I do - I feel like I'm constantly filling up, and with a 1.6 engine, though willing, doesn't quite give the "oomph" and cruise comfort I'd like, especially on long journeys. I was looking for a diesel that would give me close to 50mpg (average), plenty of comfort, and a few bells and whistles.
I'm not worried by style particularly (too old to worry about that), and What Car recommend the Mondeo as the best used family car choice (I'm not buying new - depreciation on any new car is a killer, and frankly it amazes me that anyone can afford a family size new car if they're paying for it themselves anyway). Checked out plenty of reviews of the Mondeo, and it's close competitors (Vauxhall Vectra - too many duff reviews, Honda Accord - too pricey) and they were generally very positive. Good drive, good level of kit, cheap to run and service etc...
So a Mondeo it is. Looked around - plenty available of course given their fleet history, and I've found one. It's a 2.0 TDCi "Edge" in a lovely blue colour (so not standard repmobile silver - have you noticed how many silver cars there are on the road these days?). Just about a year old. Hope to pick it up next week.
This is it.

Another clean sheet - another point

Only two days after beating Ipswich, City were playing again, away against the Foxes at the Walkers Stadium. Boosted by the arrival of new manager Ian "The Badger" Holloway (Google "Ian Holloway Badger" if you don't know what I'm on about), who's clearly barking, and a 27,000 crowd it was always going to be a tough ask. Both side looked like they'd played only 48 hours before. In what was a mainly scrappy match, whee the standard of ball retention and passing was, frankly awful from both sides, Dave Jones will probably be the happier of the two managers. The first half was entirely forgettable bar one stunning save from Kasper Schmeicel from about 2 ft. In the second half Leicester upped their game (City didn't) and Schmeicel was called on several times to make some outstanding saves. In addition, City rode their luck with a goal line clearance and one shot bounced back off the post and then Schmeicel's head to run away for a corner. I'm frankly relieved City got the draw. Two cleans sheets on the bounce. Have we turned the corner? Away at Hull on Saturday might give us a better idea. Blooobirds!

City 1 - 0 Ipswich: A win at last!

At last 3 precious points bagged after walloping the Tractor Boys 1-0. And a clean sheet to boot! Today City showed some grit, determination, and an apparent ability to play football which has been sadly lacking in the last couple of months. The first half in particular was an entertaining affair with both sides trying to play football, a site rarely seen at NP these days where often 11 men behind the ball and a good hoof upfield is the preferred modus operandi (or was that England?).
City old boys Neil Alexander & Alan Lee received a decent welcome before the match, and Lee, now scoring for fun at Ipswich after a torrid time at NP, chipped Schmeicel and hit the post inside 20 seconds! What a difference there could have been if that went in.
As it was City settled and broke freely down the right, and it was one of these sharp forays that set Parry free to cut inside and hit a pile driver past the flailing Alexander into the top corner.
The second half became scrappier as City dropped deeper (sound familiar?), and Ipswich pushed, but they never really threatened apart from one scrambled clearance. Scintillating it wasn't, but 3 points is what counts, and with the next match looming as soon as Monday against Leicester (away), let's just home this is the corner we've been looking to turn.
C'mon you Blooobirds!

Dismal, dismal England - but we won our skittles match!

England were given huge chance to rectify a poor Euro 2008 qualifying campaign tonight after Israel beat Russia at the weekend. But it was never going to be, and much as it saddens me to say it, they don't deserve to be going to the Euro's next summer. They were dreadful. Parks teams play better football than that. Even Cardiff City play better football than that. No seriously.
Steve McClaren must be must have been one of the worst international coaches in England's history - even Sven is better than him.
Time to take stock.

• We have no automatic right to appear at major championships.
• Maybe we did invent the game, but others are now playing it better than us
• Other countries iften take mediocre players and gel them into a great team. We manage to take great (allegedly) players and turn them into a poor one
• There is insufficient passion displayed by anyone in the england set-up
• The FA must take some responsibility for the appointment of McLaren, the ludicrous state of the Wembley pitch and complacency

How good are England? here are the other teams that finished third in their groups:

• Finland
• Scotland
• Norway
• The Republic of Ireland
• Northern Ireland
• Bulgaria

And three of those (including Scotland) finished with a better points tally than us.

Maybe this will do the England setup some good. Let's get a decent manager in, build a new team from the ground up and aim for World Cup qualification - if our undoubtedly reduced seeding will allow us to get there.

But, on the bright side, we won at skittles tonight. Our site will be updated in the next day or two with all the juicy details.

Organisation? What organisation?

Funny how some things strike you. I was beavering away at my desk this morning, content with my organisational skills, knowing smugly how my smartphome keeps me on top of things.....
...then I noticed my desk.
I have 8 post it notes within reach, as well as a desk full of papers and an A4 notebook. And that's without my PC!

Palmless

I've had a Palmless week. I 've stuck to the Vox for the whole week - and do you know what? I'm almost getting used to it, and haven't wanted to go back to the Palm once. No, really. Well maybe once or twice.
Still, I've stuck at it, and to be really, really honest, there is actually little the Vox can't do that the Treo could. But I knew that. It's the interface (and touchscreen) I miss. I'm sticking with it though. It's a bit like giving up fags. The first two weeks are the hardest.

A funny old game

Commiserations to all you Scots after yesterday's game. Your boys gave it one hell of a go, and frankly were very unlucky over the whole campaign not to have qualified. A bit of fire and passion about the Scottish players that England could do well to have a look at.

Speaking of which - what a get out jail free card, as Israel beat Russia after England looked dead and buried out of it. All the "Eng-er-land" have to do now is secure a draw or better against Croatia at Wembley on Wednesday. Easy uh? I don't think so.

They're not there yet.....

Mine's a half - and one for yourself!

I'd like this bloke as my mate!

Actually, it's an Australian man breaking the world record for carrying the most beer steins. Reinhard Wurz carried 20 one-litre steins 40 metres - a new Guinness record.
(courtesy of the BBC "Day in Pictures" web page)

Little things

Another gadget post, so it'll be ignored or "hurrumphed" by my father who thinks my obsession with small shiny things is unhealthy.

My HTC Vox (on which I'm typing this) has small rubber covers for the USB sync/charger port and micro SD card slot.

After about 3 weeks use the USB cover wouldn't stay closed (it was beginning to annoy the hell out of me anyway) so I cut it off. The micro SD card cover is going the same way although it's hardly ever opened, so that may have to go too.

I've seen similar stories on some other sites, so it's not just me.

My point is, if manufacturers design devices like this, why don't they test them rigourously for flaws like this that just irritate end users? I'd be happy to trial a shiny new gadget anytime!

Indecision

I still can't choose between the Vox and Treo. If I think I'm going to definitely need access to a phone I'll take the Vox. If I want the better PDA capabilities I'll take the Treo.
All I know is I don't want to go back to two devices - a phone and a PDA, but this swapping around is ridiculous. I'm going to have to go with one or the other...

The Valley of Death

Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse, City go to Charlton and succumb 3-0 at their Valley ground. Jonesy dropped RF and started with JFH and the big Scot Steve "Tomahawk" Thompson. Didn't help. Looking good until 1st half injury time but then Charlton managed to bag 2 goals in stoppage time before the break. After that they were always chasing the game, and Charlton added a 3rd late on.
What started out as a season of hope and expectation has rapidly changed into one of despair. Outside the drop zone only on goal difference (and we haven't actually scored many!),
Patience is wearing thin.

More City woe: City 1 - 1 Palace

Dave Jones has a lot to answer for. Everyone keeps saying he's a good manager, and for almost a season and a half he looked it, but since the middle of last season City have been in a mess and he can't get them out of it, and the fans (and I suspect Chairman Ridsdale's) patience is wearing thin. A lot of reports of tonight's match will focus on the referee, one Mr Mason, and boy was he dreadful. No he wasn't even that good. He was shocking. No, worse than that he was wholly incompetent, and please bear in mind that I'm trying to be objective here.
Still, that shouldn't detract from City's failings. Far from taking confidence from last week's solid display at Anfield, they were inept. No pace up front (sorry RF & JFH), 3 out of 4 passes go backwards, there's no width apart from occasional foray's by Paul Parrry - and when he did whip the ball in there was no -one there to meet it.
The midfield is conspicuous by it's absence. Rae and McPhail just aren't cutting the mustard. Passes going astray. Actually, half the time, they're not even passes, just hoofs upfield. Thompson comes on for Fowler and within 10 seconds gets himself booked for booked. Really, really, depressing. And this for a side that's suposed to be good enough to be challenging for promotion. From the Conference maybe, and if they don't up their game soon, that's where they'll be headed. They upped their game in the last 5 minutes, but why leave it until then. Poor old Kasper Schmeicel must be wondering what he's let himself in for in his month's loan spell. Awful, awful, awful. I should have stayed at home and watched Liverpool thump Besiktas 8-0 with a cold beer in my hand.

Remember, remember the 5th of November...

Hurrah!
Bonfire night. No bonfire (garden's too small, but I am going to let off some picturesque explosives. Whizz bang!

Palm: Aaarghh!1 Why can't they just make a phone that works!

I've been going back and forth between my Treo 680 and my HTC Vox like a yo yo, but had recently decided the Treo is the better all round device for me. so for the last few days, it's been Treo all the way.
Tonight though, I couldn't pick up a call - pressed the green answer key when it came in but nothing happened.
So I tried a little experiment.
I rang my Treo from my landline (one in each hand). The landline failed to connect 3 times with a number unobtainable signal (even though the signal bars on the Treo were lit up like a Christmas tree. Then it connected and rang the Treo, but strangely even after about 20 seconds the Treo hadn't started to ring.
Next try it rang, but again the answer button failed to do anything.
Next go it connected and answered.
Can you make sense of it? I can't.
I love the Treo - it's by far the better all round device, but I just can't trust it as a phone.
Back to the Vox.....

Network Coverage

I use T-Mobile which I generally find is a good network (both in terms of coverage, customer support and price).
I do have one slight issue though. Where I live, the signal isn't great. On my Palm Treo (which admittedly doesn't pick signals up as well as other phones) the signal can vary between four and zero bars and that can be with the phone sitting on the desk and not moving! My son who's on a T-Mob PAYG has a Sony Ericsson T630 which suffers from the same varying reception, so it's not down to the Treo alone. The T-Mob website says coverage for my postcode area is good. Hmmmm....They've obviously not tried using a phone here.
Anyway, I sent a nice polite email to Customer Service asking if there was any plans to improve the coverage here: Here's their response. Not much help for me (tried all this many times - except replacing the SIM), but it might help someone else.

Thanks for your email, about your network coverage.

I'm sorry to know that you're unable to use the phone due to bad network and I can understand how concerned you must be about this.

I've checked the coverage in [postcode] and can tell you that there are no known problems in that area at the moment.

You may be able to strengthen your signal by following these steps:

1. While the phone is switched on, remove the battery. The phone will then switch off automatically.

2. After a few minutes, replace the battery.

3. Switch the phone on.

4. Your phone will now display T-Mobile and allow you to make calls.

You might also find you need to manually select the network and you can do this by following the steps below:

1. From your menu, highlight and select network selection.

2. Change from automatic to manual.

3. Your phone will now display searching and bring up a list of networks.

4. Highlight and select T-Mobile.

If you continue to have problems, please try your SIM card in another T-Mobile phone. This will indicate whether there is a fault with the SIM card or the phone itself. We can then give you information on having your phone repaired or we can order you a new SIM card. There's a £10 charge (including VAT) for a replacement SIM card.
Thanks again for emailing me, and I'm sure you'll be able to strengthen the network to use your phone.
If you've any further queries, please feel free to email me and I'll be glad to help you.

2nd November 2007 - a very nice day

It's my birthday! Yippee. another notch on the old staff of life. That's 48 notches altogether now. My daughter Bethan, who's 10, said today....."You're not old yet Dad. Don't worry, I'll tell you when you're old"! Thanks.
We've had a nice day today. It's half term, so we're off with the kids this week, and today we decided to go to the Cotswolds for the day. Packed up a picnic lunch and headed off down the motorway to Bourton on the Water. We've been before, some years ago, but that was in the summer. Bourton suffers from being incredibly picturesque and therefore is an absolute nightmare in the summer when you can't move for tourists. Today though was lovely. The weather was great and the autumn colours combined nicely with the Cotswold stone, as I hope my picture shows.
We paid a visit to Birdland in the village, where bizarrely you can see, in the middle of Gloucestershire, the only colony of King Penguins in the British Isles (I kid you not).
Stopped off at a Harvester on the way home for a birthday tea, and now just chilling out. No doubt I'll have a long cool beer later. Lovely.
Also, Happy Birthday to my Sister-in-Law Sue, who shares my birthday.

New consumer Blackberry - the 8320

Saw this over at Palm-Mac (Murray always seems to be on the ball). It's Sammy from Palm Addicts giving the new Blackberry 8320 the once over in a short video. It looks like it could be a Palm killer (what Palm's not already dead?). Could this be the device (if and when it becomes available in the UK) to give me the things I dearly want from my Treo (decent signal reception, decent battery life) and things I don't want from Windows Mobile.....errr, that'll be Windows Mobile then.

Liverpool 2 - City 1: Blooobirds!

City gave as good as they got last night in the 4th round of the Carling Cup against Liverpool at Anfield. After a stuttering start to their league campaign, doom mongers were predicting the Bluebirds would come seriously unstuck against last years beaten Champions League finalists.
City though had other ideas. with almost 6,000 traveling support urging them on, and generally outsinging the home crowd, Dave Jones team were holding their own at half time with the score at 0-0.
Just after the break though, the Reds took the lead, with that well known Liverpool player Nabil El Zhar blasting home from 25 yards. Rather than capitulate, City stuck at their task and were rewarded when skipper Darren Purse nodded home Paul Parry's free kick to the delight of the ecstatic City faithful.
Sadly, our joy lasted about 46 seconds as Liverpool broke almost from the kick off and Steven Gerrard slotted home what proved to be the winner. Great game. RF had an outstanding ovation on his return to Anfield, and the City players and support did themselves proud.

The only blight on the day was the journey. Left at 1:30pm and didn't get to Anfield until 6pm, and coming home got into the car at 10.05pm and arrived home at 3:30am. The M6 was a nightmare both ways. On the way back, we were stuck in a huge jam, which eventually proved to be 2 miles of single lane with the other two lanes coned off with absolutely no-one, or nothing, being done in the coned off area. To have a major route like that at a what was a virtual standstill at 1:30am in the morning with no work actually happening is criminal.

Palace at home next Tuesday. C'mon you Blooobirds!

Bones

You may have read (if you've been bored enough) that some of my bones are a little creaky - especially in the region of my left knee. I had an arthroscopy a couple of years ago (keyhole surgery where they snip loose bits and suck it all out through a tube) which helped a bit. Since then though, things have gone downhill, and this summer, probably made worse by me continuing to try and play cricket (note the use of the term "try"), which forced me back to the Dr. They referred me back to my orthopaedic surgeon who arranged a scan.
Had the news today. Apparently generally the knee is in pretty good health - apart from the "bad medical osteoarthritis" (so what's good about that then I say?). So, the plan is that they're suggesting I have a higher tibial osteotomy. A what? Read the link yet? Sounds a bit brutal to me.....God knows when it'll happen - don't know what the waiting list is like these days.
Still when I'm laid up in my knee brace, I'll have plenty of time to write in this blog!

Palm related blogs I enjoy reading

One of these has given me a mention, so I thought I'd reciprocate.
Palmblogging is run by David. It's a general blog with a Palm theme as he's an avid Palm user. Not too technical, but focuses on what he does with the device - real life stuff. A daily visit for me recently.

Another of my daily haunts is Palm-Mac, Murray's blog of all things Mac and mobile. He's got/had more devices than you can shake a stick at, and his view of them, and the world in particular is very entertaining to read (in my view). Maybe it's because his set up is similar to mine in that he's got a Treo 680 (amongst others) and had for a short while an HTC Vox, and uses T-Mob as his carrier. Not afraid to call a spade a spade if he doesn't agree with something, I'd recommend blog this to any mobile gadgeteer.

My 'Big Daddy' though, a site rather than a blog is Palm 247 run founded and run (mostly - with help for a few key others [Neil, Mike, Peter - take a bow] by Shaun McGill. The site has Palm, Windows Mobile and Symbian options, but is really friendly, has several updates each day and is well worth adding to your favourites list if your a mobile device user.

Anfield here we come!

It's the big day tomorrow (Wednesday) when Cardiff take on the mighty Liverpool in the 4th round of the Carling Cup.
Let's not kid ourselves here, I don't expect City to win. What I do expect is for the lads to give it their best shot, and not go down like a pack of cards. You never know, though, cup competitions can be strange affairs. As the old cliche goes, a cup match is a one off, 11 v 11 on the day etc etc. Hmmm...
Now if RF was to score on his old hunting ground, that would be good.
Looking forward to this so much - I hope it doesn't let me down. We're going up with my mate who we sit next to in the Canton stand. He volunteered to drive (well done Andy). Our two boys will be well up for this too.
Going to be a long night though - especially if City take the Reds to extra time and penalties....LOL

Westonbirt Arboretum

We've just been to Westonbirt Arboretum in Gloucestershire for the day. The kids weren't at all impressed when we told them their first trip for half term was a day out looking at trees! They warmed to the task though, and both of them thoroughly enjoyed the walks through the stunning autumn woodland - there's almost 600 acres altogether I believe.
Bethan, who's 10, in particular was running from tree to tree looking for the name tags trying to decipher their latin names, whilst James (almost 13) conceded that it was "...much better than I thought it was going to be - it all looks so pretty".
It helped that the morning was glorious sunshine which managed to get the light perfect when it shone through the foliage, especially the acers.
Not cheap for a walk in woods though at £7.50 per adult and £2.50 per child, and teas/coffee/cakes is pricey in the cafe - take your own flask and sarnies as we did.
Undoubtedly spectacular though - we'll go again.

Digital Dilemmas

If you've read previous posts you'll know I love gadgets. My phone of choice for almost the last year and a half has been the Palm Treo - firstly the 650 and when I managed to break that, it's successor the 680. I love the Palm operating system, so easy to use, but the Treo is not without fault. Back in September I therefore on a whim bought an HTC S710 Windows mobile smartphone in the belief this would be a new dawn for me in my mobile computing world.
However, all it's done is confuse me.
The main reasons for switching from the Treo were, in no particular order:

• Poor battery life
• Weak signal reception (compared to other phones on the same network)
• Random restets
• A dodgy onboard clock that could "lose" up to an hour a day - iffy if your smartphone is controlling your calendar and alarms!

The S710 looked a great replacement on paper. It still had the pre-requisite for me - a qwerty keyboard - a neat slide out contraption, which allowed the smaller form factor over the Treo. A great screen, system stability, great battery life and good signal reception. This, I thought was the way forward - goodbye Palm.

But....

Try as I can, I just can't ditch Palm and the Treo. Although the S710 cures all the failings of the Treo, it's just not as fast and intuitive to use as the Palm operating system. I find the lack of a touch screen particularly frustrating, the spinning beach ball appears too often as I wait for applications to open and everything takes at least one or two more button presses in Windows Mobile than on the Palm. Worse, it's locked up on me a couple of times when browsing the internet.
I've spent the last week swithcing my SIM from the S710 to the Treo and back again trying to decide which is the device for me. There's absoutely no doubt in my mind, that were battery life, and signal reception better on the Treo it would be my preferred smartphone of choice by a country mile, but just when I think I can live with those failings, they let me down. So I switch back. 24 hours later, the Windows Mobile interface is driving me back to the Treo!
There's no sign of Palm fixing these problems - or even acknowledging they exist, so little hope there. There's an new version of the S710 out soon - the S730 which promises a faster processor, so may be worth a look. I'd rather be using the Treo though.

Beer, beer, beer

This is great! I love it!
Beer, beer, beer

Scunthorpe

It doesn't get any better. Looking to build on confidence after that demoralising defeat to Wolves midweek, City started abysmally against the "Iron". Took them 35 minutes to get going, unable to string a pass together, the only bright spots, on loan Kasper Schmeicel looking sharp and confident in goal, and a City supporter shouting "C'mon it's on;y Scunthorpe" that had the away 'keeper smiling. Then in about our first attack Stephen McPhail gets on the end of a JFH cross and volleys in from close range. I think that's the only time I've seen him in the opposition box in almost two seasons. Perhaps he should try it more often. 1-0 at half time, with the prospect of that clean shet manager Dave Jone sis looking for.

Too good to last?

Yes.

10 minutes after the restart a low cross poorly defended and a low shot back across Schmeicel which he's probably admit he could have done better with. Followed by another turgid35 minutes. A few efforts late on, but a point's not good enough. Jonesy's walking a tightrope at the moment. The distraction of a Carling Cup tie against the might of Liverpool on Wednesday may be welcome for the fans, but behind the scenes there are serious problems that need sorting out, and quickly.

City 2 - 3 Wolves: Rubbish!

City were dismal again last night apart from a couple of bits of magic from RF & JFH. Roger Johnson must be gutted. I think he's been one of the outstanding players of the season so far, but manager Dave Jones dropped him for this match claiming defensive frailties had let us down in recent matches. Quite right, but not really RJ's fault in my opinion. He then sees skipper Darren Purse installed in his place make a mistake (again) for Wolves first goal, and Glenn Loovens outmuscled for their second, and then the defence concede a third from an unmarked header!

City defended so deep (they always do) they needed oxygen to get into Wolves half most of the time. Is it in their contracts that they're not allowed in the opposition's half? Give a side 30 yards free space and they'll make you pay - and they did. Apart from RF's cool penalty and JFH's neat finish from a great move City were poor. They need to improve for Saturday against those big hitters Scunthorpe, before we have the little matter of next Wednesday's visit to Anfield in the Carling Cup. Given Liverpool & City's form, it'll probably end up 8-9!

Stephen McPhail's been wholly ineffectual in the middle of the park - he's supposed to be a "playmaker" yet he passes 90% of balls backwards, and 10% of the rest sideways. I can't remember the last time he scored for City - or even if he has, and we're desperately missing Ricardo Scimeca to bolster that middle Gavin Rae didn't impress me early on, but he's improving, making telling tackles and even has a couple of goals to his name (listening Mr McPhail?)

Seriously, City are in relegation form at the moment, and they need something to happen quickly. I'm not sure bringing in yet another goalkeeper (Man City's Casper Schmeichel) on loan is the answer - what is it with City? We seem to sign more goalkeeper's than any other type of player put together and then don't use them.

Bring on Scunny!

England's Glory

What a great week it's been for English sport. The England football team qualify for next years European Championship, the rugby boys win the world cup and Lewis Hamilton wins the F1 Championship in his rookie year........errr - not.

Let's face it, when push comes to shove, this last week highlights all that's wrong with English sport. Over-hyped and generally over estimated.

Still, could be worse. You could be a Cardiff City supporter - lost again yesterday. Premiership material? What was I saying about over-hyped?

Sent by Treo 680

Customer Support - not!

You’ll have to bear with me on this, but at the end might understand why:

a) I’m a grumpy old git

b) Have little patience with anything these days

c) Am losing hair at a rate of knots

Last week I had a call from my broadband supplier Pipex. A nice call. As an existing customer, how would you like a faster connection speed for less money and no catches? Yes please. And whilst we’re at it, free evening & weekend calls?

Well our domestic landline useage isn’t high, and I’m already on a near as dammit free Talk Talk package, but why look a gift horse in the mouth?

The confirmation emails from Pipex started rolling in. Order underway etc and then – “Please contact us – problem with your order”. So I did.

They said they could complete the order because I had a Talk Talk “tag” on the line and I had to get Talk Talk to remove it. So I rang Talk Talk.

Talk Talk said we can’t remove the tag as the line is “owned” by BT. So I rang BT. Meanwhile, each time I rang each company and groped tortuously through their call messaging services they told me how much they valued my call and that they’d be with me just as soon as they could, although they were terribly busy right now. Aren’t they always? GET MORE STAFF!

Anyway, BT kept me on hold for 20 minutes and I got fed up and rang off. Tried again this afternoon, got through quickly via the new sales line (ha ha – good trick) whereupon I was told, “Not our problem mate, need to talk to Pipex”. Notice a theme occurring here? Pass the buck? They also gave me a MAC code. For all you techies out there you’ll know this is a code needed when transferring a broadband service (which is strange because I wasn’t).

However, I rang Pipex and the nice man there said “Why did they give you a code? All you need to do is cancel the call package with Talk Talk, set up a line only rental with BT, and when you confirm that we’ll set up your call package”.

But what about my broadband upgrade I whined? Oh that’s all done and completed he said!!!!!!!!! I refrained from shouting at him (it wasn’t his fault) but kindly pointed out that if someone had told me that first thing this morning it would have saved me a great deal of irritation, frustration and dents in the desk where I’d been banging my fists. As it turns out you see, I’m not that really concerned about my call package, as it’s the broadband increase I was really after, but I seem to have been misinformed and understood that it was all tied together.

Maybe I didn’t read my emails properly, or maybe I was just given the wrong info. Either way, it’s clear that none of these companies really “value you” once they’ve got you. Customer Service is a laugh . They’re all too quick to push you somewhere else just so they can make the next sale.

Oh, and whilst making these calls, BT also managed to cut me off 3 times.

Scores:

Pipex 6/10

Talk Talk 6/10

BT 3/10

City 2 - Burnley 1: a home win at last

For the first time since March City finally won at home. In a nail biting affair against fellow Championship side Burnley, City went one up in the first half through Joe Ledley (pictured), only for Burnley to equalise through yet more sloppy defending early in the second half. Half time substitutions by the opposition, perked up the Clarets who'd looked very ordinary in the first period and they went close on a couple of occasions. Paul Parry though, having a decent game but unable to deliver anything like a decent cross decided the best way was to run at the defence and shoot; 2-1 City. Why oh why don't run at defenders more often?

Burnley though will have done their homework and knew that City have conceded very late in several games this year. They threw people up front and you could feel the tension in the crowd as the time ticked down, and the howls on anguish as 4 extra minutes were posted. But the Bluebirds hung on as the whistles for full time, more reminiscent of a winning FA Cup match, eventually saw the ref blow up we gained three valuable points as we start to climb the table.

The official MoM was Joe Ledley, but my pick was Gavin Rae who's looking stronger and more authoritarian in the midle of the park as the season progresses.

Gordon or David? And does it really matter?

So we're still waiting to find out if the Chancellor - sorry - Prime Minister, is going to call an autumn election. Frankly, the conference season has passed me by. I'm sure that I should be interested in politics, but you can understand why so many people are apathetic about it.
For one, there actually seems to be little difference these days between Left and Right. Policies are similar and the legacy of years of 'spin' make many believe politicians are not to trusted, whoever they are or purport to represent.
Secondly about 75% of the electorate will vote the way they always have anyway - irrespective of policy and manifesto from any of the main parties. I reckon these fall into 2 main groups. Those that will never forgive the Conservatives for the years of Maggie even though that was years ago, and those that think anyhing left of Ghengis Khan is old Labour. Naive all. Oh, and there are a few of those Liberal Democrat folk who'll do anything to be best mates.
I can be turned, but probably more by local issues than national. I just wish Gordon would call it so we can get it all over with for the next 4-5 years.

Mobile email via Vox

Can't keep a clean sheet

City remain unbeaten away from home this season, but can't keep a clean sheet to save their lives. turning round a goal deficit in the 1st half against Sheffield United to lead 2-1 at half time (another one for Robbie!), we went 3-1 up early in the second only to concede 2 in the last 5 minutes to draw 3-3. A win would have put us comfortably upper mid table, instead we lie mid table, and certainly not comfortably being only 2 points above the relegation zone. Promotion form? Not.

Black Gold (or cyan or magenta or yellow)

Two things.

1. Never skimp on quality (although see point 2.) I've now bought at least 3 "value" inkjet cartridges for my aging HP 940C deskjet (it might be more), and on each occasion the cartridge has been naff. The colour one I put in yesterday decided that green is the new yellow. Granted it had been on the shelf for about 4 months, but it was unopened and still had the seal across the head. Cleaned the thing via the software, cleaned it under a running tap, shook it, threw it across the floor. Still yellow is green - or rather a sickly vomit colour. Morale? Avoid cheapo's - there's just no point. Stick to HP cartridges. And so to point 2.
2. I bought the cheapo ones, because they were just that. Cheap. Relative that is to HP's own. But they don't work (for me at least). So off I trot to PC World on my way home (I know, I know - but I was desperate and it was on my way home.)
   
   £35 quid!!!!!
   
   For 19 ml!!!!
   
   That's about £1.90 per ml!!!
   
   And the chances are I'll run out of one of cyan, magenta or yellow well before teh other colours run out so I won't get my full 19ml's worth anyway!!!
   
   'Scuse me, but that's bloody ridiculous. If I'd needed a new black cartridge too I might as well have bought a new printer.
   In fact I might next time. There's nothing wrong with mine (apart from the extortionate ink costs), but it's a few years old now and according to the PC Pro mag their A listed tea making duplex printing Canon Pixma iP5300 is only 75 notes (and I bet I can find it cheaper), and their 2nd choice the 5300's little brother the 3300 is only £32!. Stupid.
   

Robbie's Return

The draw for the fourth round of this season's Carling Cup has just been made and guess what! Cardiff City go to Anfield to play Liverpool. A dream return to his old hunting ground for Robbie Fowler, and the chance to put one over on his old muckers. What a draw! Need to find out about tickets, as me & mini-Stats will be well up for this. City always have a good away support, and with a tie like this should take several thousand up to Merseyside. C'mon you Bloooooobirds!!!

Scare stories

How many times have we seen something that appears to herald the doom of mankind, or at least likely to give us the snuffles only for it all to blow over, or at least fall into distant memory as the next big thing takes it's place. For example, we've had mad cow disease that had everyone avoiding beef and burgers and although bovine spongiform encephalopathy is a real disease, it doesn't appear to have had anything like the devastating effect that was predicted (yet). Similarly SARS (remember that), avian flu, salmonella etc, have all been linked to the end of the world as we know it. Until something else comes along.

I blame the media.

Don't get me wrong. I don't for one moment doubt the authenticity of such health problems, or the anguish that those who suffer as a result, directly or indirectly undergo, but if you listen to the "popular media" (define whatever that is if you can) the human race will be wiped out by the weekend. And it's all usually down to climate change. Or not washing hands properly. Or poor immigration controls. Or just because these things happen.

Me; I take it all with a pinch of salt. Or at least I would if I hadn't heard recently how the salt in my diet will do for me.

WBA 2 - 4 Bluebirds

So, my hunch came true. City sneaked past WBA 4-2. More like a hammering methinks, with Robbie Fowler & Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink on the scoresheet. Who'd have thought that 6 months ago? Let's hope for a massive tie in the next round.

Skittles

The skittles season is here! "Hoorah" I hear you all shout - or at least they would if anyone was reading this...

Skittles is a top game in South East Wales, played by finely honed athletes, of a dark winters night, on cold alleys with a pint of Brains Dark to hand.

Seriously, it's great fun - you should find a pub with an alley and try it. There are variations on the game all over the country, but ours is best. You can check out all the form and details at our very nice web site Dinas Powys Athletic "B" Skittles

We start this Wednesday with a home tie against the Legion A.

We're on the road to Wembley, la la la la, la la la la

Tonight City play the mighty West Brom (not) in the Milk, sorry, Worthington, sorry, Carling League cup thingy. To be honest we've done well to get this far, edging past those giants of the game Brighton & Hove Albion and Leyton Orient, and face stiff opposition tonight away at the West Midlands outfit. In our favour is our away form this season, and I think we could just edge it...then Man U away in the next round.....

We'll see

Queues

I think I've mentioned before that I hate queues of any sort. and it's getting worse. The older I get the more impatient I become, and to be honest I've never been the most tolerant of people anyway.

Why is it that whenever I have the choice between two queues, I always pick the wrong one? You know what I mean - you weigh up the options, choose the one that's moving fastest and then the person in front of you hasn't got the right change, or drops the change all over the floor, or can't converse in the language required etc.

And it's not just queues of people. Traffic, "virtual" queues when you're stuck listening to how some company or other really "values" your call and will be with you "just as soon as our next agent becomes available"....yeah! (Handy tip - when ringing a company that has a series of choices, always choose the option for sales - your call will be answered much quicker than the support/advice option).

Worst of all, queues are eating away at my valuable life time. I'm into my late forties now, so if I have a good innings I might get another forty (but then I might not), and I don't want to spend that precious time stuck behind someone or something. And do you realise just how much time you spend in queues?

There's the school run and thence to work. Typically going it's 50 minutes for a 13 mile trip - over an hour on bad days, but as little as 35 minutes on good days. The home journey can be done in 25 minutes, but more typically 35, and currently with the M4 roadworkd around Cardiff 45. That's if you can get off the Buisness Park in less than an hour because there's only 1 access road and that's straight onto Junction 30 M4 (Planners - D'oh!). That's 40m or more a day, over three hours a week that I could gain if it weren't for the traffic queues. That's a lot of time.

Then there are other various miscellaneous queues:

• At the bar on skittles nights when I need my pint of Brains Dark
• At the take away on Friday's
• At any shop
• Getting out of Ninian Park after Cardiff City's latest home defeat/draw (never a win)
• Trains - don't talk even to me about queues and trains......
• Airports - a queue haters nightmare, but thankfully only faced a couple of times a year
• Time waiting for your PC to boot up (technically a queue of instructions)
• Waiting for the kettle to boil (mental note - must get one of those jobbies that promises to boil a cup of water in 3 seconds)

and so on...

But what to do about it? Be more patient? Not in my nature. Get more stressed? In my nature but not good for my health. Go with the flow? Wish I could. Answers on a postcard please.

City 2 - Preston 2

I went to Ninian Park today quietly confident that at last City would get their first home win of the season, and that either Robbie Fowler or Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink would get on the scoresheet.
Sure enough, RF opened his Bluebirds account with a great poacher's header, but PNE equalised it early in the second half after some more dire City defending. When RF doubled his tally, it looked like we'd bagged all 3 points, but in injury time a needless free kick on the edge of the area, well worked by PNE put the scores level. Worse, City's star man (in my opinion and that's over the last 18 months) central defender Roger Johnson was injured in that goal and stretchered off after prolonged treatment for a head injury. Hopefully it looks like he'll be OK, because neither of our other 2 centre backs (Purse and Loovens) are fit yet!
So I went home feeling like we'd lost. It's a point, but that's not good enough, and the defending has got to improve. God knows what RF and JFH are thinking about the sloppy goals we give away.

Spam, spam spam

For as long as we've had email (well almost) we've had spam - unsolicited emails, usually suggesting you part with wads of cash for some potion or pills that will perk up your libido so to speak. Generally, most people get onto spam lists quite unintentionally by responding to requests to provide their email address which is then sold on by a third party, or because they naively respond to a spam email itself which does little more than verify the email address is active, and therefore continues the cycle...

I've always been pretty responsible in the respect (I thought). Careful about who and under what circumstances I provide my email address to, and for several years actually didn't suffer from too much spam. In the last year though, I've noticed an exponential increase, and now I get shedloads on a daily basis.

I use a program called "Mailwasher" to filter my spam on my host ISP server before I download it, and this helps enormously, but it's still a right royal pain in the ****. I can't undestand why there isn't a more concerted effort to try and tackle the perpetrators of spam. Unless of course there's a financial incentive not to. But then maybe that's just a cynical viewpoint.

Premiership? Not yet

I loyally bought my Cardiff City season ticket way back in May, confident that we'd be able to push for promotion this year. With money in the bank from the sale of Michael Chopra to Sunderland for £5m, manager Dave Jones had money to spend.
8 new players in, included the ageing but Premiership experienced duo of Robbie Fowler and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink - great coups.
Sadly our start to the season has been decidedly mediocre. 3 home losses. 2 away wins and a draw. JFH finally got off the mark with a stunner against Watford last night, but we still lost 2-1. We can't defend (although having Purse, Loovens and Scimeca all out doesn't help. Fowler looks off the pace, but you can see his (and JFH's) thought processes are a step up on everyone else.
There is a long way to go, but we need to start winning at home. Bring on Preston this Saturday!

Via Vox

Another shiny gadget

I'm just a sucker for shiny gadgets and 8 months after replacing my broken Treo 650 smartphone with it's 680 successor I've made the move from the Palm platform to Windows Mobile. I'm now using an HTC S710 or "Vox".

It's a Windows Mobile 6 smartphone, smaller than the Treo with a slide out QWERTY keyboard which when opened automatically switches the screen to landscape mode.

With WIFI, and GPRS it really only lacks 3G, but frankly I don't need that sort of performance.

Whilst I still can't bring myself to ditch the Palm platform entirely, I must admit I like the Vox. Cool.

Mobile email via Vox

Sunny Days

We've just returned from a fortnight in Puerto Pollensa in Majorca, and jolly nice it was too. Hot sunshine, cold beer and warm seas - just the thing to forget about the rat race. we've been before, in fact this is our 3rd trip to the same place. The kids loved it (it was a Thomson Superfamily hotel), the scenery is superb up in the mountains, and for me and the missus it was a nice relaxing holiday. We've only been back a day or two and have already got some brochures for next years outing. Time to start saving the pennies...
For anyone interested, our top highlights of the holiday were:

1. The Pirates Adventure show in Magaluf - stunning acrobatics
2. Evening horseriding at Rancho Grande in Son Serra de Marina, followed by a meal, shedloads of sangria and a chance to make a fool of yourself on the Bucking Bronco - I managed 34 secs and was only beaten into second spot by a 13 year old who managed 35 secs!
3. The drive down to Sa Colabra - must be one of the bendiest roads on the planet - tough in a car - we met about 30 coaches coming up!
4. The beach at Formentor - pictured - almost like being in the caribbean!

Look out Shane Warne

Proud moment today, as "Junior" aka "Mini-Stats" played cricket for the Sunday senior side - at 12 and a half the youngest player on the pitch by some distance and in his first senior competitive match . Not only did he field well, but given the chance with the ball bagged 4-13 with his leg breaks against a youthful, but talented Blaengarw side. 1 bowled, 1 catch and 2 stumpings is an impressive return. With his 1-0 in a senior warm up, he's now got 5-13 in his 2 senior matches to date. He genuinely turns the ball, and boasts a googly and flipper. Let's hope he can keep that going, for Dinas Powys CC and England's sake!

In 5 U13 matches this year he's averaging a tad over 37 with the bat as well, and if he keeps working hard, could turn out to be a fine young cricketer. I on the other hand, coming to the end of my career am struggling to hit the ball off the square, and can't bowl because of my dodgy knee. Time to move over I think...

Summer - What summer?

As usual I've been neglecting my blogging duties (how do people who run regularly updated blogs find time to do it?) Well, I suppose they may not play cricket (of which more later), coach junior cricket, run a taxi service for 2 children, play skittles, have a house to decorate/upkeep and full time job and try and keep 3 websites on the go.

So what have I been up to. Playing cricket certainly hasn't been on the agenda. The rain has been persistent and we haven't played a league match in 3 weeks. No bad thing I guess considering my form before the heavens opened! After such a glorious April, the rest of the summer so far has turned into a big damp squib.

One bright spot was that the U13 cricket team I coach won their first ever match last week. I was so chuffed for them all as we've taken a bit of a battering in our other matches, but the lads have progressed really well this season and definitely deserved the win.

Let's hope the weather changes for the better soon. Apart from anything else I need to top up my suntan!

Cricket lovely cricket!

So the cricket season is upon us once again. Two matches for Dinas Powys CC last weekend. On a glorious early May Saturday we chased down Lisvane Whiteheads 280 to win by 3 wickets. On a rather more blustery Sunday we were stuffed in the 1st round of the Welsh Cup by arch rivals Barry Wanderers. Oh well, at least we can concentrate on the league!

Sent by Treo 680

Mother's Day

Mother's Day tomorrow. Kids are excited about delivering presents and flowers and breakfast in bed to their Mum.

Time for me to pause and think about my Mum, Kit who passed away on 19th December 2002. She was a great Mum to all of us (Terry, me, Stephanie & Richard) and a wonderful wife to our Dad, George, who still misses her terribly. There's not many days go buy when I don't think about her, so Mum, if you're listening, Happy Mother's Day for tomorrow.

Spring is coming - is it?

My conservatory is starting to look like a greenhouse. It's full of seedlings and young plants. The raised bed of a couple of posts ago has been built (and already has mixed salad, parsnips, carrots and peas grwoing in it (albeit slowly) in this late winter weather.
I've also got 3 different types of tomatoes, onions, basil and coriander on the go, plus a variety of annual flower seedlings. Today I planted out some perennials received in the post. If it all comes off it should be great!

City Talk

Well, City are still in with a shout of he play-offs, but losing 3-1 to derby today didn't help. On the bright side, work has started on the long awaited replacement stadium for Ninian Park, but it won't be readyuntil at least Christmas 2008....
We've bought our season tickets for next year. We haven't even finished this season yet, but £370 for me and my son to watch a seaon just seemed like to good an opportunity to waste.
Hopefully next time I post, it'll be about a resurgent City.

Raised beds

No, nothing to do with sleeping on stilts. I like gardening (hey it's not a crime!), and I only have a small ish garden. It was in a mess when we moved in 2 years ago - nothing but weeds and mud. It's turning around and I've got some small borders now, but nowhere to grow my veg. So I've decided that a small portion of a straggly lawn (which the kids don't play on anyway) will be given over to a raised bed. All I have to do is build it, and then away we go......Ha ha - you obviously haven't heard about my DIY skills.........

City on the up

Well, no sooner said than done. A 1-2 win at Wolves, despite their ridiculous fan ban, and then City 3 - Leicester 2. We tried to give it away in the final few minutes, but held on for the win thanks to a stunning hat trick from Michael Chopra. That's 4 in 2 games for "Chops". Maybe it's turning round for us.

City woes

I can't understand what's happening at Cardiff City - almost 2 months at the top of the table earlier this season, and all the talk was of of Premiership action next season (I thought this might have been a tad premature I'll have you believe), and now we're 8th, although only 3 points of 4th spot. We can't win a game to save our life, and can't score to get the win. I missed our last home win against Burnley in November, which means I haven't see them win since October!

We need a bit of luck - performances have improved generally since Christmas, but currently everything's conspiring against us. I still think a play off spot is agood target. Come on you Blooobirds!

New Year in the Gower

You'll have seen in an earlier post about how I managed to "fry" my phone whilst away at New Year. Well, here's where we went. A small, incongruous hut right at the far end of the Gower penninsula in South West Wales, a few hundred yards from the beach. The weather was a lot worse than it looked here! The accomodation can best be described as "functional", but it served it's purpose. It' even got an outside fridge for keeping the beer cold. Oh well, okay, the outside IS the frdige!! Anyway, so long as you don't mind sleeping bags and bunks, it's fine, and all of our party who went enjoyed themselves. There's a big cooker, microwave, a log burning stove, showers, toilets (yes, all that in that little tin shed, so it can be a bit cramped), but if you don't might semi "roughing" it for a few days it's great! The hut's actually a National Trust property, known as "Gower Base Camp". It's used by the NT as a base for people who are working on NT matters in the area, but can also be hired out privately, as we did, for about a tenner a night per person. I think there were about 14 of us at the time.

It's close to Llanmadoc village, but a good 30 minute stomp from the Brittania Inn. Set amongst pine trees and sand dunes, on a huge windswept beach, it's a great place to get away from it all.

Digital Deliverance

Subsequent to my last post, I've come to understand the relief that is insurance. My very friendly and helpful insurance company, who shall remain nameless, but have the words "Liverpool" and "Victoria" in it's title, have dcereed that the damage was "accidental" and my smartphone is covered under a "new" for "old" replacement cover. This is particualrly joyous, in that my fried smartphone isn't available new any more, and so I can essentially upgrade to the latest model (in fact the new model is cheaper than the old one was anyway!). So, hopefully tomorrow, I'll be the owner of a shiny new Treo 680. Result!

Digital Disaster

Yesterday my smartphone was OK. Then I had a go on one of these games where you have to thread a loop around a twisted wire without touching the wire or BAM you get an electric shock. I got a shock. My smartphone, which was in my pocket, got fried - or at least the screen did. No I have a choice. Either try and replace the screen - minimum £50 and a bit of hope - if I can find one and if it works, or buy a new smartphone (a nice shiny new upgraded model). My heart says get a new phone, my head (or more explicitly my bank account) says go for the replacement screen.......

Happy New Year

Well it's 3.15pm on New Year's Eve and I'm with my wife and friends in a pub at the end of the Gower penninsula. Great! Happy New Year to you all!

Merry Christmas!

If anyone's reading this, have a Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year!

How neat is this?

This posting has been written and submitted on my Palm Treo 650 smartphone. Now I can blog from anywhere!

[Posted with hblogger 2.0 http://www.normsoft.com/hblogger/]

Remember Christmas?

Well. Here we are again. Hardly a year gone, and it's time for tinsel once more. I was looking for a Christmas card for my wife the other day in one of those high street card shops. Unlike me, my wife has strong faith, and I was looing for a card that represented at least in passing, what Christmas is all about. Could I find one? Could I? No.

If wanted cuddly bears, hearts, flowers and so on I was fine. Even the odd snowman was around. Robins were in short supply, and I actually found one card that had a picture of a church on it. But Mary, Joseph, a star or even God forbid the baby Jesus. Nowwhere in sight.

Around me on the high street people were rushing around like idiots spending money on things that will be son forgotten or discarded, without even a thought as to why we exchange gifts on December 25th. The supermarkets are even worse, with people buying like there's a food shortage on the horizon - and they'll all be open again on Boxing Day or the day after at the latest...

Don't get me wrong. I'm not a religious zealot, and in fact find it terribly hard to have any faith at all, and have respect for those that do, but at least I understand and remember what Christmas is about. Shame the rest of the world is forgetting....