Month: February 2005

The phones at home are dying – they were never really that great to begin with. So I need to replace them, but with what? The new phone must meet the following requirements.

• MUST be DECT
• MUST have Caller Display
• Should be able to transfer calls between two handsets
• Speakerphone would be good too

So far the BT Diverse X10 has caught the eye, but I’m open to suggestions. Budget wise I’m looking at £70 MAX.

Nestlé just keep getting it wrong, don’t they. Obviously they weren’t happy breaking World Health Assembly requirements, now they’ve really gone and done it.

Now this might come as a bit of a shock, so make sure you are seated, and put down any beverages you are holding. In fact if you can arrange a protective circle of cushions around your chair that might be safer.

All set?

They are changing the shape of the Smarties packaging.

I’ll just let that sink in a bit. Get those memories flowing, sorting them into colours, collecting the plastic lids, keeping them for Blue Peter’s Tracy Island model.

OK, read on.

The director of marketing said: “We don’t change something this famous just because we feel like it,” (no it’s because we want to try and make some more money, and we know, whether people like it or not, they’ll buy it just to see what it’s like).

Already the complaints are flowing: No more “karate-chopping” the tube to fire the plastic lid across the room, no more charity drives where you fill a tube with 20p pieces, no more strange enjoyment from waiting to see which letter was on the underside of the cap.

As someone commented: “Whatever next? Square Polos?”

Alas it’s just what happens with blocked products these days. The product may be fine but if you can come up with another way to ‘sell’ it then you’re quids in! Pyramid teabags are a perfect example, they don’t make better tea, yet people will pay an extra 10p per pack. Soon adds up.

So, to the people at Nestlé please stop mucking about. Ohh and get that baby milk thing sorted to, it’s the least you can do.

Ohh and if anyone from Cadbury’s stops by, can you make the “Finger of Fudge” a bit bigger, or double pack them or something? Thanks.

It’s long since been held, by experts, that walking 10,000 steps a day is an excellent way to stay healthy. Last week, inspired by Casino Avenue I purchased a cheap pedometer (£5 on eBay), and started wearing it to work.

The results are about what I figured, on average I walk around 5,000 steps a day (actual average is 5,174). There is one option open to me to increase that in an average working day, and that’s to walk to the station in the morning and walk home at night. OK, that’s really two options.

It takes around 30 mins to walk to the station and would mean I’d have to leave the house around 7.20am to catch my train. I struggle to leave the house at 7.45am so realistically, whilst I may walk to the station on occasion, it just doesn’t suit me. I’m quite willing to accept that. Hey, I enjoy my bed.

On the way home… well it’s the way home. Who wants a 30+ min walk home, up a very large hill, when they come home from work? Not me that’s for sure. And therein lies the problem. I’m a lazy bugger.

Other than that there is very little else I can do to increase the step count. If I get off the train one stop early it’s only going to add a couple of hundred – two stops early would add a further hour onto my journey, so that’s a no-no.

So I guess, with the lighter evenings heading our way, I should consider walking home once in a while. I think I’ll start off with twice a week and see how it goes.

Not Proven
The law is an ass. The accused was clocked doing 132mph but unfortunately it seems that the speed gun used to measure his speed was proven to be inaccurate. Not only was it used at twice the distance of the manufacturer’s stated range but the car in question was fitted with a speed limiter meaning it’s maximum top speed was only 107mph (or 112mph depending where you get your info). Now, physics isn’t my strong point, nor is maths, and I’m sure someone out there can correct this wild assumption of mine.. but.. 107mph is still 37mph OVER the speed limit, right? My assumption is that, despite being used to measure speed over a distance of 2000ft instead of 1000ft, the speed gun still indicates the accused was doing more than 70mph (I’m sure there is an equation or some way of working out the exponential loss of accuracy over distance). In other words. He was still guilty.

The upshot of this case is that everyone who has been clocked over the speed limit, by that make of speed gun, can/will now challenge the ruling/fine.

Remind me, laws…. what’s the point of them again??

P.S. More in the comments.

Talking to Tony Blair
Do YOU know who your elected MP is? Well seems like you don’t have to bother with them anymore. Just go straight to the top! Yes, it seems that the way to get things done is to ignore the minions beneath him and go straight to the gaffer. Doesn’t matter where, live on TV will do (in fact it’ll probably be in your benefit).

Anyway, next time someone has the opportunity, can you ask Tony why it’s always MY front garden the local kids throw their empty beer bottles into? Thanks.

No more deliveries
Non-NBA fans, skip to the next section.
Karl Malone has formally retired. No more deliveries from the man they called “The Mail Man” because he “always delivers”. Alas he’ll probably be best known for almost delivering, and had it not been for a certain Michael Jordan, he’d probably have three or four championship rings to wear on his fingers. Alongside John Stockton he proved that a big man can play ball, and I’ll never grow tired of watching re-runs of the masters of the pick and roll.

In more personal news, my sister-in-law thought her interview went quite well. It was much more informal than she thought it would be – “the woman had pink hair” – but she feels she managed to communicate her enthusiasm well enough. She should find out whether or not she has secured a place on the course on Monday coming. Fingers crossed.

I’ve just realised what it is about Google Maps that scares me.

Spotted it?

The home page map points out the areas that are the Atlantic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. The scary thing is that they had to label them at all.

Question: Is it better to have these smaller “snippets” in one post, or should I split them up? I’m also toying with numbering the “Miscellany” posts, not sure why though. Hmmm.