Like Herding Chickens

Risk : Benefit

2012-01-11T15:40:00.000Z

Working in a massively risk averse environment is odd… You end up almost like a hostage with Stockholm Syndrome, the abnormal becomes ‘normal’ and we, the captives, become thankful for the added ‘safety’ in the situation.

Our employer uses a one size fits all strategy for all electronic systems. And it has been proven they do work at stopping attacks, leaks, losses or stupidity. This level of security costs, A LOT. If we were to move to a de-perimeterised (sp?) network we would allow greater flexibility and reduced costs. Agreed, changing the entire landscape of digital assets would equally cost A LOT in a single payment. But, I postulate that that expense would lead to so many freedoms and long term advantages that it MUST be looked at as a serious consideration.

How many have heard of any of these: BYOD, JERICHO or CLOUD?

I bet that Cloud is the only one that gets any recognition… But, removing the traditional electronic boundary, hardening the core data, and allowing free(er) movement will generate massive rewards when/if we move to a fully Cloud environment.

If only!

Social Media

2011-12-14T21:32:00.006Z

I've been asked for my thoughts on the use of Social Media in the workplace.

:-)

The above diagram is FUNNY and I agree with its underpinning theory.

But, we must include the person who want's spread the truth, or at least their version of it. Now I realize that most narcissistic people don't think they are being self serving but, some people out there just want to tell you stuff about, well.. 'stuff' : Wikipedia, Wikileakes even Tripadvisor..

So I break down Social Media ( Creation of on-line user generated content for interaction and by interaction ) into the following four areas:

1. Knowledge sharing ( Broadcasting ) - Wiki anything
2. Expression of opinion ( Ranting ) - Blogging/twitter
3. Community Interaction ( Venting ) - FB/Linkedin(/twitter?)
4. Vicariousness ( Dreaming ) - Youtube/Flickr/Foursquare

How these breakdown to operate in the workspace is not that hard as we all know we should share knowledge, that blow-hards will always want to tell us their opinions, "Water-cooler" discussions are a fact of office life and we always think the grass is greener in UC...

But, what tech should we use? Is a FaceBook-A-Like the only answer or should it be just one tool in the shed?

If you give everyone a hammer, don't be surprised when someone gets electrocuted changing a plug. ;-)

Social Media is a game changer, but not the answer to everything: Comms teams will be scared of it - they fear the loss of control. Management will resist it - staff should be working not chatting and we will not put anything onto the Wiki for fear of no longer being 'needed'...

To miss quote the often miss quoted, "If you build it, they will come". Give us the tools and let us find out the best use for them...

HUGH

2011-11-01T13:37:00.002Z

Forget the usual Motivational Posters - if the picture of a small fluffy animal or a breath taking vista is enough to motivate your working life then you need to watch more mindless vicarious TV... If you like a mental challenge or a left-of-field view on things go here:

This guy has nailed my various thoughts on Social Media / the Internet / Business / life

HUGH

Paper Trail....

2011-06-18T20:59:00.005Z

ilst grubbing around in the back of the garage for ‘stuff’, I found a folder containing a fair chunk of my cycling history… It holds mint condition receipts, user guides and blurb from after the purchase of my Alpinestar Cromega through to

the purchase and upgrading of my Klein Mantra.

My Cromega was a cherry red DX model… Great looking thing with an evolution sized head tube.

In MBI magazine they ran a competition to win a pair of Quazar Racing #1 forks.. I didn’t win them but did get to buy a pair at a good discount. Sure the 1inch forks were pain to fit, but the looked ACE on the Cromega. I filled in the Racer Registration form, but didn’t send it off as it had the fitting instructions on the back…

When visiting Ambleside in the English Lakes I always pop in to see the folks at Biketreks. And on one visit I spotted an awesome frame hanging from their ceiling, ProFlex 856 in sapphire blue. This was odd as that model wasn’t supposed to be available until six months later. So I bought it on the spot.

I fitted the #1’s and rode it with the pride of knowing there was only one other UK based 856 in the same colour, as when finally brought into the country they were only available in red and silver. Mine and the other one were ‘test’ examples and the 756 got the blue… The forks ate their way through two sets or bushings and when my wife started to use the 865 I swapped them out for a pair of Quazar’s yellow ‘Linq’ forks - blagged from Brant Richards for getting On-Ones first podium place (3rd), I'll bet he doesn't remember that. ;-)

The silly-putty suspension on the Proflex was a pain, so when I spotted that the Klein Mantra in Keswick Mountain Bikes had ‘proper’ coils and funky chromatic paint I fell head over heels in love. But, the Judy TT’s were like just like a pogo stick, so swapped them out for a set of RST Mozo Pro forks.

Even they were not much fun and picked up a pair of gold nitrided Pace rc-36 Evo forks from Leisure Lakes –at a massive cost of £440.

Alas, the paper trail goes cold and doesn’t cover the Hope ‘Pro’ disk brakes and wheel package that eventually got fitted to the Mantra. But does include the box my original Time ATAC's came in, the instructions for my Cateye and aHeadset....

:-)

Always in threes....

2011-02-22T20:27:00.004Z

Why do things always happen in threes? Is there some unwritten, high level, other-worldly law that states: "When things do go pear-shaped, they shall do so thrice. " ?

Twice on my way into work, last Friday, car drivers tried to abruptly end my commute.. Which is odd on the count of it being both my in-bound journey and a Friday - see my comments on drivers being (apparently) more courteous on the way into work as they want to stretch-out the journey - especially on laid-back Fridays. But, on the way home don't get near the path of their Death-Race home. :-(

So, it was with great trepidation I set out on the return leg.

And guess what? Nope, I wasn't buzzed by White-Van-Man, Mr Beamer didn't pull-out without looking ( SMIDSY ) and the taxis all stayed clear.. I didn't even pick up a puncture. What got me was the copper waiting at the end of the road just by the gate to the park.... "Excuse me, mate..."

What ensued was a long and involved conversation about... commuting by bike. He was a bike commuter and thinking of getting an upgrade ( C2W ) and wanted to know if my bike was a crosser/fixed/hub geared etc, Why else was a drop bared, single speed bike being ridden across a field? We were chatting for so long he got a call to ask where he was and my Mrs came looking for me as I had the house keys and should've been home to start cooking tea. ;-)

Does that actually count as 4 bad things, or 2 BIG bad things and two half's? May-be I need to be on the look out for a couple of others to make up the numbers.....

The ultimate equation?

2011-01-06T13:01:00.004Z

E=MC2 is not the ultimate equation.

I’ll openly and gladly agree with anyone who say’s that I’m not a ‘Word’ or ‘Numbers’ person. I’ve never been very verbose and I can’t balance a cheque book. But I have discovered the most important equation for my life:

( N + 1 ) <= ( D – 1 )

The mathematics amongst you will laugh out loud at the logic, and any help in re-phrasing it will be appreciated. But here goes the explanation:

Everyone has something that keeps them going, some highpoint in the drudgery of life, the things that keeps us lurching towards oblivion. ‘N’ is the object of desire that we value above all else, be that the next long haul holiday, a new pair of Jimmy Choo’s, the latest tech gadget, Bike, a faster car, latest aspirational marketing do-dad or watching you favourite sport live or on the large plasma screen in the pub with your mates… N is that ‘thing’, so (N+1) is the act of going and getting the next 'it'.

It’s really not good for us to have everything we want, so life has checks and balances. This is ‘D’ – a letter picked for nothing other than my worst fear. ‘D’ is the thing we want least: Death is the ultimate D, Divorce is my personal D, but we should all be aware of the outcome we want least.. so (D-1) is the point before we start the immutable decent into the hell of ‘D’..

So for a happy life (N+1) must never match or be greater than (D-1)… This is a truly scalable equation that could be used for almost any “I WANT…” situations, please try applying it and let me know the results. ;-)

Android pt2

2011-01-03T21:17:00.002Z

My decision of HTC Desire HD v.s. Desire Z was sorted by the release of the Google Nexus S.. Sure its a fettled Samsung Galaxy S, but Megan can now play Angry Birds without the screen throwing a fit. :-)

Lovely screen and very smooth performance. Scores 10/10 (so far).

Tough choices

2010-11-24T09:27:00.003Z

It's time for me to get a new mobile phone... My HTC Hero has been, and truth to tell still is, great. But as is the way with these things newer / faster / bigger phones are now available. Plus my Mrs wants the Hero. ;-)

I've been quite precious with the Hero and managed not to scratch the screen or add too many dents to the case, which for me is a miracle as most phones are treated to all my 'lifestyle' can throw at them. Pockets full of sharp screws and nails added to drops onto hard, wet and filthy surfaces or just getting crushed under heavy falling objects turns most of my Posh-Tech to beaten up junk with in a month or two. But, I like having 'good' toys. :-(

So... Do I go for the Motorola Defy, the first toughened Android handset? Reputed to be operable underwater and with a scratch resistant screen.. Or do I go for a normally HTC Android handset and try my best not to kill it? Tough Choices....

I have had a look at the Defy and it appears to have mostly the same operating spec as my Hero, just tougher. But could I live with the white plastic case? (Who thought of white plastic for a phone to be used in environments expected to involve dirt and grime?)

The HTC HD and Z look great; brushed ali, large smooth screens, matt rubber bits and a flashy extending keyboard in the Z - all very Posh-Tech looking and all very damageable.

Argghhhhhh!

Head or Heart...? :-(

Elastic Computing

2010-10-25T07:35:00.004Z

I've been thinking about the term : "Cloud Computing"... It all sound very wispy and ethereal. Great for personal and business uses, but when it get's to Governmental use it runs head long into a few large "Gotcha!"s.

In the UK govt no data is allowed to be stored or processed off-shore or in non-secure* environments, and the whole point of Cloud is that you don't know/care where your computing is done - so long as it is done cheaply: UK, US, Eastern Europe, Mumbai, Iran, etc.. So a Private Cloud is created.. Is it just me or is Private Cloud an oxymoron? You know like Military Intelligence, Fighting for Peace and Adult Male.

So I'd like to propose a name change ( drum roll ).... "Elastic Computing"

(Wikipedia)

Computing as in processing, storage and the associated must-have's delivered in a Cloud environment, and "Elastic" as in having defined foundation but with the option of a finite amount of wiggle room to cope with peaks and troughs in demand. Like "Knicker Elastic," if used with the right delivery tools (a catapult ), could deliver it's payload remotely with surprising accuracy, whilst keeping your private parts securely protected. ;-)

* UK Govt Security is justifiably VERY strict and one of the few areas of Govt IT to get any funding boost in the CSR!

Blore's Razor

2010-10-14T10:29:00.003Z

Occam's razor is a logical principle attributed to William of Occam. The principle states that a person should not increase, beyond what is necessary, the number of entities required to explain anything, or that the person should not make more assumptions than the minimum needed. This principle is often called the principle of parsimony.

Occam's razor is one of those things that's hard to argue with - sort of like Christianity. Take a look at the precepts, and it looks pretty good. Now, once you're familiar with the concept, you begin to notice how people actually apply (misapply) it. Based on years of observations, I have arrived at a description of its common use:

Pick the explaination that causes minimal change to your belief system - an ego preservation heuristic.

To rant just a bit on the common usage: "I have a closed mind--only ideas that fit through the mail slot are accepted. Any larger ideas will be rejected without inspection. You may, however, attempt to describe the parcel via individual letters, but keep in mind that the letters must meet our established protocols.. blah blah blah.. "

Or even better, just stick with : "Given the choice between two theories, take the one which is funnier. - Blore's Razor"

Targeting Viruses

2010-10-13T11:27:00.002Z

OK, the idea of knackering the Iranian nuclear bomb/power project could be seen as being of global importance to some, is it really worth playing Nuclear Russian Roulette?

http://www.f-secure.com/weblog/archives/00002040.html

IT workers remember this:

2010-10-07T11:10:00.002Z

Most people in IT thinks the Business world revolves around them... But in fact IT is an enabler for Business. We should be trying to help the Business do things quicker/easier/cheaper, not dictating how things are to be done.

Take heed of this warning:

Links

2010-07-08T07:19:00.002Z

Here's a bunch of interesting links:

1, FB game sailing a man-o-war sailing ship:

http://www.channel4.com/play-win/trafalgar-origins/

2, Real time coverage of the TdF:

http://www.teamsky.com/tour-de-france/race-hub/0,28479,19034,00.html

3, ITV 4 TdF news & podcast:

http://www.itv.com/sport/tourdefrance/?intcmp=NAV_SPORT7_TOURDEFR7

http://downloads.itv.com/podcasttdf.xml

WordPress fiasco

2010-05-22T21:09:00.002Z

OK, someone out there slap me!

Yep, slap me...

I've just spent 2hrs trying to upload text from a spreadsheet into a Wordpress 'table' page.. Why-o-why would someone setup something so stupendously complex, why not just have a basic page that you can copy text into? I need a stiff drink. :-(

TTFN.

We're getting there...

2010-03-23T21:26:00.001Z

http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2010/mar/23/dole-queue-jobseekers-online

Things to read and do..

2010-03-07T20:29:00.001Z

Have a go at this game :

http://www.physicsgames.net/game/Home_Sheep_Home.html

And have a read of this :

http://www.batteryuniversity.com/

Dear Specialized

2010-02-12T10:29:00.004Z

Thank you for making the Globe "San Francisco" 1. What a great bike. :-)

http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bc/SBCBkModel.jsp?spid=39275

The frame is a work of art, the drive train is purposeful and the contact points are comfy.

OK, the brakes and wheels are on the weighty side, but they do work well enough and appear bomb-proof. For now I'll not even think of upgrading them, but I will fit my old Time ATAC pedals..

I am intrigued by the sliding dropout that tensions the SingleSpeed gubbins. They don't have track-end slots for the axle to sit in, instead the whole dropout slides in the stays with chunkey bolts holding it all together thus keeping the disk caliper in the correct place . All very clever, but the rear wheel has a standard 9 speed cassette freewheel with a 16t cog and spacers rather than a specific S/S hub - a quick win on saving ££'s just not the best looking.

Only the front wheel has a QR, the seatpost and back wheel are bolted on making security outside Tesco's a doddle.

Route Planning for bikes...

2010-01-27T14:15:00.001Z

Here's a fun little tool:

http://www.transportdirect.info/Web2/JourneyPlanning/FindCycleInput.aspx

Well, at least for the areas covered, and for the eight areas being tested.

:-)

Foot fetish?

2010-01-24T19:47:00.005Z

Here's another post in my intermittent series reviewing my footwear..

After being in a quandary over winter footwear, I finally selected a very odd choice;

http://lyxus.net/ebel

Waterproof (so far), warm, chunky sole, easy care, cheap & as a bonus they have steel-toe caps. :-)

Fantastic in the snow, great in mud and warm as toast.. Almost a five star rating. Only down side

being the lack of half sizes, but that's cured with a pair of cheap cut to fit in-soles from the £1 shop.

Basically: Industrial strength Wellingtons, without the rubber.

Great service from the people at HTTP://WWW.FOOTHUT.CO.UK

Test post

2010-01-20T11:16:00.001Z

Here's my first e-mail'd blog post...

--
--

David Pomphret.

Estimated amount of glucose used by an adult human brain each day,
expressed in Smarties: 250.

http://likeherdingchickens.blogspot.com/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/davep_ssl
http://twitter.com/DaveP_Twit

Christmas FLASH games:

2009-12-22T10:34:00.003Z

http://www.miniglobz.com/games/santa_en.html

http://www.zarinmedia.com/xmas/chairlift/

http://www.northpole.com/clubhouse/games/

http://www.santagames.net/calendar/20dec.htm

And a shed load here: http://www.dinosaurdesign.com/

Happy Holidays!

I'm loving my Hero!

2009-12-09T13:23:00.003Z

Nope, Not the naff TV series.... My HTC Hero.

http://www.htc.com/www/product/hero/overview.html

It's the best bit of handheld kit I've had in years AND it's not got a bitten Apple sticker on it. :-)

First thing I did was upgrade the ROM to give things a bit of a boost and I installed Taskiller, a app manager that helps extend battery life by removing unwanted background programs. The built in apps are OK: Peep is a Twitter front end - but Seesmic is easier to use, FaceBook and Flickr are standard items. The Android OS is by Google, so all of their apps work seamlessly, maps / mail / picassa / apps / talk etc etc. :-)

Connectivity is easy over WiFi / bluetooth / GPRS, and transferring files between it and my PC is v-simple.

The only let down is the camera, that is shockingly poor. :-(

>28 days later...

2009-10-19T12:20:00.002Z

I've found a loving home for our orphaned Tesco bike. :-)

A friends 18 yo daughter has moved to darkest Yorkshire to work in a Racing Stables, and was in need of transport. I do have the new pedals set aside for the eventual demise of the factory fitted units. ;-)

Necessity is the mother of invention.

2009-10-19T07:36:00.003Z

I have a large plaster on the index finger of my left hand.

Yes, I cut it - quite deeply - doing something inadvisable with a chunk of sharp metal... :-(

I'm a great believer in letting cuts and grazes 'breath', and not trapping dirt etc with a plaster. In this case I've put one on due to its location. And the location is the problem. The plaster is the cloth type that has a super sticky back, but the outer face is silky smooth and very slick. Why doesn't a manufacturer do 'finger' plasters with added gripper 'dots'??

Could even get the JCB/DeWalt type toolmakers to sponsor 'Workmen' ones, like they do with their clothing ranges....

It's Raining.

2009-10-06T20:53:00.006Z

It's raining hard today.. And I'm the only person I know who's happy about it. :-)

(Yes, I know I'm odd. )

I finally got to get my new TNF Hedgehogs properly wet, no more of the walking around on dew laden grass to test them... Today was the real deal, full on Manchester industrial rain; perfect conditions for testing the GoreTex lining and I'm sad to say that they leaked. :-(

Ok, only a little bit of H2O had entered, and I HAD walked through a few puddles that would have drowned lesser shoes, so I shouldn't be too depressed by this one, tiny, little let down.

As 'Trainers' / 'Approach Shoes' or what ever you wish to class them as, they do a very admirable job. They are supremely comfy ( see previous posts ) and on country walks have grip and stability matching any low-cut boot I've had - just how long the spiky Vibram sole will stand up to tarmac abrasion can only be a test of time. The Hedgehogs have been worn to the pub and the office without issue and have been hiked a few miles around the Cheshire countryside and not felt under prepared.

The GoreTex lining goes all round the foot even on the gusseted tongue - enclosing up to the ankle. So to have a damp right sock (little toe area) after today's paddling was a bit of a surprise. But, as a sociable alternative to my lightweight hiking boots they are a massive winner and as I doubt they'll ever get a bigger soaking than today, I have every intent on using them 'till they fall apart.

I'm beginning to wonder what the rest of the TNF range has to offer, for when my HiTec boots kick the bucket... 4 months old and looking very rough! Then again, as Winter blows in I'll prob go with a leather boot. I'll let you know if I go for light modern technical or heavy old traditional. ;-)

TTFN.

Big, big thanks must go out to FitnessFootware for their prompt service

& to TNF for making another great product. :-)

Bling!

2009-10-06T20:41:00.004Z

Driving past that horrendous eyesore of a hotel in Manchester - If you've been there you'll know which one - I spotted this delightful eccofriendly runabout:

Yep, it's a completely 'gold' chromed Cadillac Escalade. It's the Conservative Party Conference this week. So.... I wonder which MP got it on expenses?

WRONG on so many levels!

Walk a mile...

2009-09-24T20:59:00.003Z

Oddly I've never had shoes of the 'net before..

I've been too picky over what shoes feel like when on to take the plunge and get something on 'spec'. And to be honest I'd not have tried these TNF Hedgehogs on in a shop as they 'look' like the inner lining just doesn't have enough support ( I'm used to HiTec with their very contoured in-sole ), and has blobs and strips of Gel in odd potentially uncomfy places. But, after walking the dog around the meadow ( He's a Collie so walking is an understatement), I was very pleasantly surprised by the attention to detail that had gone into the shape of the anti-bacterial in-sole, And yes it isn't the convoluted shape of a HiTec, but it does provide great comfort and support where needed.

The Vibram outer sole is so spiky, with high levels of grip, they should call them GTX XCR 'Porcupine' instead of Hedgehog.. I wonder how long until I've worn the prickles to stumps. :-(

Next to try them cross country at the (wet) weekend. :-)

Fast delivery.

2009-09-23T11:01:00.003Z

Wowser!

That was quick delivery. Less than 48hrs to get a box onto my desk.

I'm used to this speed of service from CRC, so it's good to see that www.fitnessfootwear.com are as good. :-)

Now to try them on.....

Enterprise Architecture

2009-09-23T09:54:00.002Z

EA is what I do to earn a crust... To some people it's the spawn of the Devil, to others it's the only true way. I'm with the latter. ;-)

Have a read of this:

http://theenterprisingarchitect.blogspot.com/

Jon was my boss for a few weeks and he's very Evangelical about it - in a believable non-QVC style.

He's also on Twitter.

Puppy Training

2009-09-22T20:41:00.002Z

First night of Merlin's puppy training class..

Hmmm! he's too darn smart, got the hang of it all too fast...

Cold dark nights are here. :-(

2009-09-21T21:02:00.003Z

Tonight it was dark here before 8pm. Autumn is on it's way...

Walking the dog could start getting a little less interesting. Time to get some warm and waterproof togs. :-)

My 'farm' boots are being warn too much - I don't want to kill them before winter hits, so been looking at these as an alternative:

http://www.fitnessfootwear.com/c-367-north-face-hedgehog.aspx

Think the Black/Grey would suit me best:

http://www.fitnessfootwear.com/p-2739-north-face-hedgehog-gtx-xcr-black-and-foil-grey.aspx

Aggressive Vibram soles and GoreTex lining should ward-off the worst of the great British weather.. I hope. ;-)

In the past I've had TNF waterproof jackets and loved them and I've seen v-good reports on their Hydration Packs, but I have never tried their footwear....

Getting them from FitnessFootware. I've not had footwear over the 'Net before, so will report back on findings.

28 days later…

2009-08-17T08:24:00.009Z

Tescos: Bicycle Shaped Object

The recent media fanfare over the “Cheapest Bike in Britain”, ASDA £70, was quickly followed by the advertisements getting pulled for showing the gents version with its forks on backwards. Most bike aficionados scoffed at the low spec and called them Bicycle Shaped Objects ( BSO ), none thought that these cheap Supermarket bikes could encourage people to take up cycling ..

Having recently spent close on £200 for my daughters first 24inch wheel cycle, I was interested in see just what you did get for your money.

One Sunday morning we found that a Tesco £45 bicycle had been throw over (through) the hedge from the path that boarders my property. Upon inspection it had been hardly used: the chain rings and cassette weren’t scuffed but the tires were flat. I dutifully called my local Bobby and gave him the BSO details and placed it the shed with my ‘normal’ bikes. Twenty eight days later no one had claimed the bike lost or stolen so it became my property. Its made of Hi-Ten steel with a spec very similar to that of the ASDA BSO: no suspension, twist-grip shifting of 18 gears, ‘V’ type brakes and a quill stem. One friend’s recommendation was to re-spray it and plumb it as a towel warmer in my bathroom…

What to do with a ‘Mountain’ Bike that costs less than a decent pair of tires…? My usual riding consists of the two or three work commutes in the week, on a Single Speed roadbike and blast’s around the countryside on a high-end mountain bike… Not wishing to appear a coward for my first ride I chose to take the “Ascent” for a gentle ride around local tow-paths and bridleways. To my great surprise the wheels rotated without any buckles and the brakes ( after 5min of effort ) work, eventually bring the BSO to a stop. The angles of the bike are very laidback and the chainstays on the long side, making it a very stable platform, perfect for the first time user. Alas, the same could not be said for the saddle that would not stay in the necessary place despite my best efforts to get the ‘old’ style rotating-clamping-sliding-thing as tight as possible.

The other loose items on the BSO are around the drivetrain. Whilst it does have the rear mech attached to the wheels axle, as was criticised on the ASDA BSO, there was never a hint of ghost shifting. But, the cranks and pedals are as wobbly as a jelly in an earthquake. The pedals are nasty plastic bushed units that found it hard to rotate on their axles and would quickly become useless ( I’ve swapped them for an old pair of ‘80s Shimano XT platforms) but at least the BottomBracket could be stripped down and re-built with new ball bearings and grease – if I could be bothered.

All in all I’d not be happy riding it to work on a regular basis – too heavy and much too costly in worn out parts – and I like the comfort and safety of suspension, disc brakes, etc, etc, for off road use - never for anything serious. But, as an introduction to cycling ( and if it was backed by proper LBS support ) it would be a great introduction to cycling as a recreational activity and MUCH better than vegetating in front of the TV on a Sunday afternoon.

Diesel do nicely..

2009-06-04T05:50:00.002Z

We are now a fully Diesle household.

Dolly, Duddly, The Disco and new the Focus are all oil burners.

Better way to buy a used car..

2009-06-03T21:36:00.004Z

After 8 years of very dependable service our Focus came to the point where, for once, it was starting to cost £££ to keep it going. So we went out and bought another one.

Another Focus Estate, this time a diesel.

New ones went up £2K in April, so 'used' was the (and should always be) the way to go. We'd looked around the usual places for a used car and were horrified at the lack of choice. :-(

Ford do their own on-line used car thing called Ford Direct. I can highly recommend it, just select the dealer you pick up your car from... the final price includes shipping and admin, so dealers charge more than others. We saved £300 by using Gordons Ford in Wigan over our local dealer. ;-)

Worthy cause

2009-02-02T09:52:00.001Z

http://www.mountaincycle.com/brents-page

Anyone who rides a Mountain Bike should have a look at this page.

http://www.mountaincycle.com/brents-page

And Industry types that attend the off road section of the Out-Door Demo @ Interbike should be finding some way of helping...

Wordle.net

2009-01-30T15:40:00.002Z

Great fun.. Try your own here: http://www.wordle.net/create

2012 Credit Crunch Cycling Team

2009-01-28T09:34:00.002Z

http://s1.b3ta.com/host/creative/5632/1233088707/B3taBoris.jpg

Don't they CHASE bikes?

2009-01-23T09:24:00.001Z

http://snuzzy.com/dog-riding-a-bicycle/

Safety?

2009-01-16T09:01:00.001Z

Perfect for the Gutter Bunnys :
http://dustbowl.wordpress.com/2009/01/09/light-lane-concept-from-altitudes-alex-tee-and-evan-gant/

:-)

What January is for:

2009-01-14T09:04:00.001Z

Twas the month after Christmas,
and all through the house,
Nothing would fit me,

not even a blouse.

The cookies I'd nibbled,
the chocolate I'd taste
At the holiday parties
had gone to my waist.

When I got on the scales
there arose such a number!
When I walked to the store
(less a walk than a lumber),

I'd remember the marvellous meals I'd prepared;
The gravies and sauces and beef nicely rared,
The wine and the rum balls, the bread and the cheese
And the way I'd never said, "No thank you, please."

As I dressed myself in my husband's old shirt
And prepared once again to do battle with dirt...
I said to myself, as I only can,
"You can't spend a winter, disguised as a man!"

So, away with the last of the sour cream dip.
Get rid of the fruit cake, every cracker and chip.
Every last bit of food that I like must be banished
Till all the additional ounces have vanished.

I won't have a cookie, not even a lick.
I'll want only to chew on a long celery stick.
I won't have hot biscuits, or corn bread, or pie.
I'll munch on a carrot and quietly cry.

I'm hungry, I'm lonesome, and life is a bore...
But isn't that what January is for?

Unable to giggle, no longer a riot.
Happy New Year to all, and to all a good diet.

BBC iPlayer

2009-01-03T21:41:00.001Z

Kids have all the fun:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/search/?q=owl&go=Find+Programmes

:-)

Not invited to Xmas lunch?

2008-12-22T13:53:00.001Z

Try this:

http://fantasticcontraption.com/

Carbon foot print?

2008-12-18T21:40:00.001Z

http://video.kenblockracing.com/flash/small_player/preloader.swf?vendor_id=204&media_id=9183&bgcolor=FFFFFF&autoplay=0

Got a chuckle from me:

2008-12-15T15:37:00.001Z

Rusty Chevrolet

(To The Tune of "Jingle Bells")

Dashing through the snow in my rusty Chevrolet.
Down the road I go, sliding all the way.
I need new piston rings. I need some snow tires.
My car is held together by a bits of chicken wire!

Chorus
Oh, rust and smoke, the heater's broke, the door just blew away.
I light a match to see the dash and then I start to pray-ay.
The frame is bent, the exhaust went, the radio's okay.
Oh, what fun it is to drive this rusty Chevrolet!

I went to the corner shop to get some Christmas cheer.
I just passed up my left front tire and it's gettin' hard to steer.
Speeding down the road, right past the boys in blue.
I forgot to de-ice the screen and I just can't see through.

Chorus
Oh, rust and smoke, the heater's broke, the door just blew away.
I light a match to see the dash and then I start to pray-ay.
The frame is bent, the exhaust went, the radio's okay.
Oh, what fun it is to drive this rusty Chevrolet!

Bouncing through the snowdrifts in a big, blue cloud of smoke.
People laugh as I drive by; I wonder what's the joke!
I have to get to town to get my take-away,
Cause Santa's comin' soon in his big, old, rusty sleigh!

Chorus
Oh, rust and smoke, the heater's broke, the door just blew away.
I light a match to see the dash and then I start to pray-ay.
The frame is bent, the exhaust went, the radio's okay.
Oh, what fun it is to drive this rus-ty Chev-ro-let!

Listen to this:

2008-12-05T09:24:00.001Z

A modern Hi-Tec version of Yes Minister:

http://digitaldebateblogs.typepad.com/digital_identity/2008/07/sir-bonar-nevil.html

CLASS!

Sit down!

2008-11-28T10:09:00.003Z

Saturday am: On the Emergency Op list. Being nil-by-mouth from 4am isn't an issue as I've not eaten since Friday morning. I'm not in pain going to the loo, just don't want anything to eat - VERY unlike me. More painkillers injected into my arse. :-(
Saturday pm: Still on the Emergency Op list. What I've got is not life-threatening so am low down on the priority list. This mornings injection starts to wear off after six hours. Tonight is my daughters presentation evening, so my folks bring her in for me to explain why I can't be there. Heartbreaking. Curl up into a ball and suck-up the pain.
Saturday night: At around 10pm the Anesthetist visits. DVT stockings on, IV fluids and the same questions again... Am I allergic to any drugs, am I diabetic, have I any false bits, have I any piercings, have I eaten or drank in 4 hours, etc etc
Saturday/Sunday: At midnight they come for me.
Sunday am: Wake up. I'm propped up in bed wearing a blood soaked nappy. Turns out to have all gone well. Small incision in my right cheek that needs to be kept open and clear for up to eight weeks to keep the abscess drained. No pain killers, no antibiotics.
Sunday pm: Nurse with cold hands re-bandages my wound. Ward sends me home. I can now walk, stand up, sit down and cough without much pain.
Monday am: I've been from absolute shear agony to a small scratch in an extended weekend. I can cope with a small scratch, I've done worse to myself with blunt bits of metal in the name of DIY.
Monday pm: Off to see the District Nurses. None of the local walk-in-clinics will see my dressings as my GP is half a mile outside the administrative area. :-( They are happy for me to dress the wound as long as they can check it twice a week. Going to take a few weeks, just hope it's all done by Christmas.
Tuesday am: Back to the normal routine, off to work....

Now, I've up to eight weeks of no cycling and keeping a 2cm hole in my rump from getting infected. - EASY! :-(

Sit down!

2008-11-24T10:59:00.003Z

OK, now for a very personal, painful and urgent matter.

If you feel any unusual discomfort riding your bike go see your Doctor.

I didn't. :-(

Tuesday: I rode into work for the first time in ages - recovering from a bad back. I felt a slight 'something' but put it down to it having been a long gap between rides.

Wednesday: I drove in to work as needed loads of stuff. Had arse pain when getting into and out of chairs. Put it down to being a wimp..

Thursday am: Got up early to drive to Conference. LOTS of pain with chairs. No idea what was going on.. was it Hemorrhoids? Very unlike me I called my GP for an appointment on the Monday.

Thursday pm: The cream doesn't help. It's OK whilst I stand or sit but big pain in between.. wimp out of the bar games, have bath and bed.

Friday am: Can't even cough! Feels like I'm being split in two with a red hot razor blade up my jacksie! Pain killers not helping. First time I've cried in pain for over 30 years...

Friday pm: Drive home. My wonderful wife takes one look at my arse, bundles my into her car and takes me to AnE. I stand around for 2hrs waiting, sitting is no longer an option. The triage nurse explains what I have and how it needs treating. SURGERY! She jabbed me with somethingwonderful then sent me up to the holding ward. :-(

TBC

AW Cycles

2008-11-14T12:53:00.002Z

What a brilliant shop!

http://www.awcycles.co.uk/

My Mrs. is ordering my Altura gear from them. She's a bit of a novice at internet shopping, but the guys at AW have been fantastic helping over sizing, colour, packaging etc.

If the products are as good as the service I'll be a VERY happy camper. :-)

Christmas is coming and I’m getting fat.

2008-11-14T10:27:00.002Z

OK, so after putting by back out shovelling and barrowing stones around at the stables… I’ve not ridden in a while. And, I’ve not gotten around to replacing, or fixing the zip on, my Salomon “Fast and Lite 2” jacket. Due to being SOOOO unfit my bomb proof RaceFace ‘Aquanot’ is way too warm. So I’ve put in my request to Santa for a new mid-weight jacket.

Surfing the web I came across the ALTURA Night Vision jacket:
http://www.discountcyclesdirect.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=7278

Which would match my ALTURA Reflax ‘Winter’ gloves:
http://www.awcycles.co.uk/brands/Altura/Reflex,_Windproof_Winter_Gloves/13302/index.aspx

Further surfing listed the jacket in the BikeRadar’s “Commuting In The Dark” recommendation:
http://www.bikeradar.com/commuting/gear/article/buyers-guide-to-commuting-in-the-dark-19256

I do hope Santa can deliver early this year. ;-)

On the subject of gloves… I’ve ordered a couple of pairs of Brant’s “Planet-X“ Windtex gloves coz they are flipping marvellous, on and off the bike. At just over £5 (+£2 PnP) they are TOO GOOD to miss out on. OK, they might not be very hardwearing and the palms and fingers could do with better grip, but they ARE fantastically warm and dry!
http://www.planet-x-warehouse.co.uk/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_Gloves_78.html

Home from Home

2008-11-06T14:04:00.001Z

HTTP://lyxus.net/kxn

What a great product! But, it could have done with a few options... Fork options for 20mm and 24mm bolt through, 29er/700c for the larger rider and tent poles for thoses that want to ride to the pub after they've pitched the tent. ;-)

Energy bills.

2008-11-05T14:25:00.002Z

I've been sent these tips on how to save energy:

1) Wash your clothes in cold water.

Washing your clothes in cold water might not sound ideal, but it does save energy. Plus hot water tends to set stains on clothes and shorten the lifespan anyway.

2) Bleed your radiators

This releases any air trapped inside them and improves their efficiency. To bleed the radiator, turn off your heating and let the radiators cool. Then put your 'bleed key' into the valve at the top of the radiator and turn it to release the air. Be warned, a little water may escape once the air is released so you might want to have a cloth or towel to hand.

3) Defrost your freezer regularly

I know, defrosting your freezer can be such a chore, but it is worth doing as it will increase its efficiency. When you come to restock your freezer, ensure it is packed to the brim (certainly not a problem for me!) as this also helps it to work more efficiently.
In contrast, don't overfill your fridge as cold air needs space to circulate to work efficiently.

4) Vacuum the dust off your refrigerator coils

If you have never done this before, there could be a lot of dust on those coils. This may be making your refrigerator work harder than it needs to so get rid of that dust!

5) Don't hang clothes on the radiator

I for one am extremely guilty of doing this, but if you are drying your clothes indoors, avoid putting them on your radiators. By covering your radiators, you are preventing the heat from reaching the rest of the room. If you can't hang them outside, put them on a clothes rail in an unheated room, open a window, and shut the door.

6) Use Dryerballs in your tumble dryer

If you do need to use a tumble dryer, then Dryerballs are definitely the way to go. Dryerballs get hot when they are in use so they act like another heat source inside the dryer. By popping two balls in the dryer and turning on the machine, you will use up to 25% less electricity, saving energy and money.

7) Turn your microwave off at the wall

If you are not using your microwave, ensure it's completely switched off. Simply powering the clock can use more energy than heating your food!

However, microwaves do get the thumbs up overall as they are actually more efficient than the oven, so use them wherever possible!

8) Turn off the hob or oven several minutes before food is cooked

By turning off the hob or oven a few minutes earlier (leaving the food where it is), you will save energy and there will still be sufficient heat for the food to continue cooking.

9) Match the saucepan size to the hob ring

Ensure the size of the saucepan matches the size of the hob ring so you are not paying to heat the air. Gas flames should only heat the bottom of the pan and not the sides.

10) Turn your hot water thermostat down to around 60oC

This temperature is plenty hot enough for bath water and by turning the thermostat down you can save money on your energy bills.

11) Put a stop to all those draughts!

Around 20% of heat in an average home is lost through ventilation and draughts. On a cold day, walk around your home to check for badly fitting windows, draughty doors, letterboxes without draught excluding brushes, and gaps in floorboards.

You can eliminate draughts by installing a cheap, easy-to-fix brush or PVC seals on all exterior doors and covering your letterbox and keyholes. Draught proofing your home could save you £30 off your heating bill.

But, not one mention of RIDE A BIKE. :-(

Trick or treat?

2008-11-03T13:18:00.001Z

Halloween went down well...

All a bit last minute, no Witches Coven in the Grotto this year - Mum and Al weren't booked!

Daughter was going to a disco with friend, so we were not expecting to put on the full show from last year. Just borrowed an inflatable coffin, a couple of skeletons and a flapping/flying bat for the garage this time. Oddly, most of the little boys were more interested in the tractor than the sweeties.... ;-)

We had been gifted two pumpkin heads, so didn't get around to doing anything with the home grown one.

Got a lot of people who missed their chance to learn wool spinning from a proper witch! Mum has a firm booking for next year.

Doing My head in!

2008-10-24T07:51:00.001Z

Shown this in a training thing yesterday..

http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21598,22492511-5005375,00.html?from=mostpop

I started with her just going clockwise, NOW I can get her to both ways. My eye's are starting to ache. :-(

Crunch!

2008-10-22T07:53:00.002Z

Made me giggle:

http://blogs.msdn.com/officeoffline/archive/2008/10/21/down-cycle.aspx

Video of the Month:

2008-10-17T22:30:00.001Z

http://vimeo.com/1965120

Bikerumor.com's Guide to Using SPD Pedals from Bike Rumor on Vimeo.

:-(

2008-10-09T07:29:00.001Z

After six months of suffering with lung cancer, on top of the rest of his troubles, my Father in Law passed away at 4am this morning..

Odd it was only on Tuesday we were discussing his leaving Hospital and going to a Nursing Home. The ward staff were happy with his pain meds, Christies had him booked for another set of palliative Radiotherapy and his leg ulcers were stable...

Tuesday afternoon it was spotted that he was dehydrated and his blood tests were all over the place, He'd got a kidney infection. The infection didn't respond to treatment and his renal system shutdown, slowly poisoning him.

On the up side, for the first time in decades he's without pain.

We need sleep.

Non-Commute

2008-10-06T08:07:00.001Z

I actually rode the Bowery for a 'proper' ride on Sunday.. 20miles on the fairly flat roads around Warrington. Basically a Rece to see what roads have been closed around Delph Lane ( the OTHER Delph Lane. ).

Good fun, but hard work.

Commute

2008-10-03T08:20:00.001Z

It's odd, but you'd think that as today is a 'dress down day' I end up carrying MORE stuff to work than on a normal commute. :-(

For Jeans 4 Genes Day we're allowed to wear casual attire.. so I need to bring in Jeans,T-shirt, trainers and a jumper cos' its cold. The excersise will do me good. :-)

Too much like hard work?

2008-09-29T09:59:00.001Z

I cycle for exercise,
I cycle to rid myself of the hum-drum tediousness of ‘The Daily Grind’,
I cycle because it makes me smile.

I don’t cycle enough.

As I ride to work I look at those around me and wonder why the other ‘Gutter Bunnies’ (http://www.twinsix.com/gear/gear_t609t05.htm ) do it..
None of them smile; very few even acknowledge my wave or ‘Morning’, and for once it’s not just the Roadies, even those riding Mountain bikes and Hybrids are tight-lipped and scowling at the road ahead. OK, so first thing in the morning I’m not at my best until at least the second coffee and I’m sure only 5% of the population really want to do their commute.. So why do we ( they ) zone-out like the car drivers do? It’s often said that drivers travel in their own bubble, isolated from their surroundings, treating everyone else on the roads as just impediments to their safe and speedy arrival at their destination – what’s the difference? I see it as being a variation of “Target Fixation” that is infrastructure agnostic. 

QED: On the way to work: traffic often stops to let me across busy junctions, busses give me room on narrow country lanes and even White Vans pass without trying to decapitate me with their rear-view mirrors. Should I be surprised that on the way home things are VERY different..? ;-)

Interbike

2008-09-25T10:09:00.001Z

Well I did get to see the Interbike TV live feed of The-Spokesmen, last night at 8pm GMT ( or was it 9pm?? ). It was great to see them all in one place still unable to agree on anyting. ;-) Tim - MASIGUY - Jackson looked very fit and healthy after his bad crash. TimG ( commutebybike.com ) has announced their new Gutter Bunny T-Shirt and I WANT ONE! Wonder what the shipping is or if I could pay for it and get Carlton to post it to me when he returns to the UK... I doubt it. ;-)

Keep an eye on Flickr for Carlton's pictures, commutebybike.com for TimG's comments and pictures, Google for MASIGUY for TimJ's stuff and look on twitter and THEFREDCAST for David Bernstein's commentary - He's blogging live from the Lance Armstrong event - 9am in Las Vegas...

2008-09-24T20:10:00.001Z

http://www.interbike.com/ib/press/media-center-live.jsp

The-spokesmen LIVE from Las-Vegas :-)

World Car Free Day - who’d have guessed!?!

2008-09-23T13:31:00.001Z

My routine at my new employer is still a bit up in the air, cycle commuting is equally random…. I’ve now got a suit, tie and shoes in the office, and I now have my own key to the office bike shed. But, knowing when I’m doing the school run or need to stay late is down to the flip of a coin.. :-(

Monday was World Car Free Day – proclaimed on our Intranet site with a poll of “How will you get to work?” So I was up and out early, determined to sort out the equines and then continue the cycle before the expected masses of fellow cyclists hit the road.. I needn’t have of bothered, only one other bike got locked in the shed and they’re a regular. The numbers of cars didn’t appear to drop at all. :-(

I didn’t loose anything this time. But, I think I need to fine tune the seat height down a little and push it back its rails a tad, also need to put more air into the tires as I’m still bottoming the rear tire on some road debris. A question for experienced road riders: what angle should the ‘tops’ of my bars be? Pointing up, flat or pointing down?

World Car Free Day

2008-09-22T13:54:00.001Z

Not the best day to collect a new chainsaw. :-(

Car Free Day

2008-09-19T07:51:00.001Z

World Car Free Day is on Monday, 22nd September.

My employer is pushing it heavily.

http://www.worldcarfree.net/

Going Solo

2008-09-18T12:34:00.001Z

Due to work, school-run & livestock commitments I can’t ride in everyday, so some days I do have to struggle the 6 miles to my office in the dry warmth of my motorised metal womb. Yesterday was my first day on the Bowery.

It rained.

Yep, that was the biggest anguish of the day. The Bowery performed faultlessly, I’ve mostly got used to the handling, I very quickly learned to avoid the potholes I used to blast across on the MTB and my legs coped with the singlespeed weirdness. :-)

In the past I’ve found car drivers to be the sworn enemies of cycle commuters.. But not around here! I am dumbfounded when Bus's keep a respectful distance on narrow lanes and today one car driver even stopped a row of traffic to let me take a right turn across a busy main road! Brill! :-)

Alas there was one fatality: The clip-on Topeak LED rear light, designed to fit the Topeak rack, committed suicide on the first set of potholes by jumping off the rack and under the wheels of a following car. I’ll go back to using an old seatpost mounted thing I’ve had for years and years..

ttfn

Commuting in a box…

2008-09-18T09:17:00.003Z

The other day a box arrived at work, a large box. You could even say a Giant box….

My last bike I built up from a frame and forks with odd bits and bobs, so it was very refreshing to open the box and find the bike mostly built. The notice on the outside side “Ready in half the time” and they weren’t kidding! With help from my six year old daughter it was rolling in under an hour: bolt on the bars, fit the front wheel, set the brakes (fitting the cable rub stickers), clamp the seat and pump up the tires – voila! OK, I didn’t fit the provided chain guard, I’m just lazy…

The Bowery is a cheap-as-chips singlespeed road bike with an Ali frame and Cromo fork. The wide flange track style hubs give a fixie/free option on the back thanks to the two 17t cogs which should be bearable for my flattish ride to work and back and the 44cm wide ‘Ergo-Bend’ bars appear to be fine, but a massive difference to the wide riser bars on my other bikes. For now I intend to run the bike as it came out of the box.. No changing things until they wear out or I break them, which should be some time as all the kit looks sturdy and well made, if not flashy.

I’m not sure what market sector Giant have aimed this bike at as it’s too ‘Cheap’ to be a fashion accessory for a Fakenger and the lack of rack and mudguard mounts could discourage commuters. My usual bike for commuting is an expensive full suspension Mountain bike, which has had no changes for its road duties. Compared to this the Bowery is very light and eager and I’ll not have cold sweats about chaining it up outside all day. Oddly the lock/chain combo weighs almost the same as the bike!

As this Bowery is to be used for commuting, it’s now fitted with lights and has a Topeak rack clamped to the seat post with a chunky QR lever… The aluminium seatpost shouldn’t mind the clamping forces.But, I’d have to check its suitability with a Carbon Fibre post if I ever feel the need to fit one. The MTB specification rack should provide extra luggage lugging and act as a spray deck; it’s a bit longer, wider and heavier than the Road version but I don’t care. Both types have all sorts of options: side bars for use with panniers, clip in luggage of various sizes and lights to replace the fitted rear reflector – perfect for the gadget freaks out there. ;-)

I'm back!

2008-09-17T20:43:00.003Z

Finally I've managed to get this heap of a laptop working. :-)

I will get around to commenting on Life, The Universe and Everything... When I remember how.

Oh, one thing - My new job is great. There are two ways to treat it:

1, It's all a big challenge and a massive learning opportunity.

2, RUN AWAY SCREAMING AND HIDE.

So far I'm going with option one. :-)

( Good luck to the ROAD.CC boys, check back here for my Bike Commuting updates )

Silly things...

2008-07-23T08:12:00.002Z

These, almost, had me reaching for my credit card..

http://www.worldwidefred.com/home.htm

I especially like the milk jug, Titanic drink coolers and the 'Hacked' USB memory stick.....

New Commute

2008-07-16T12:09:00.004Z

New Job = New Commute

My new job is to be based 6 miles from home vs. my round trip at the mo. at roughly 75 miles and 2.5 to 3.5 hours plus £2.80 fees..

Aside from the extra pay, promotion and FS pension, can you guess why I'm taking the new job??? ;-)

So patently for at least 3days a week I'll be going by bike. This isn't anything new to me, so I'm ready for staging my weeks shirts and smalls in a desk draw, dodging tunnel-visioned drivers, changing in the disabled toilets and arguing with security guards on where I can/can't lock my bike. The burning question for me is: Do I ride my full-sus mountain bike, convert my hardtail with flat bars, skinny slicks and a road block or go the whole hog and get a dedicated commuter bike???

My Mav is very beefy and comfy; loads of travel, fat tires, wide 'bars and very expensive - thus it might not be ideal.. My hardtail with slicks, flats and a small block would fly and I'd not get shaken to death, but would need ££ and time to resurrect. Commuters are either duller then ditch water or frighteningly expensive, but 700c rims, guards and a rack would be useful....

Could I actually get on with drop bars?

Ho hum....

Another little chunk...

2008-07-09T11:54:00.002Z

Here we go again... :-(

Cycle commuting? Rig my old hardtail MTB with slicks and a flat bar or get a 'proper' commuter on the C2W scheme??

Your comments are most welcomed.

Everyone's free to wear lycra..

2008-06-25T10:44:00.004Z

Dear Mr Lurman. Please see the funny side!

To be sung to the tune of "Everybody free.. ( to wear sunscreen )":

Ladies and gentleman, on the commute of '08 : Ride a bicycle!

If I could offer you only one tip for the future cycling would be it
The long term benefits of bikes have been proven by scientists
Whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering rides.

I will dispense this advice now...

Enjoy the power and beauty of your bike
Oh, never mind.
You'll not understand the power and beauty of your bike until you've stopped riding it.
But trust me, in twenty years you'll look back at photos of yourself you'll recall in a way you can't grasp now how much fitter and how fabulous you really looked.
You were faster than you remember.

Worry about the future.
Worry, but know that just worrying is about as effective as trying to solve climate change by driving a 4x4 in town.
The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind.
The kind that side swipes you at 5:30 on the homebound commute.

Do one thing every day that scares you.
Sing
Don't be reckless at traffic lights and junctions
Don't put up with drivers who are reckless with you.
Grease
Don't waste your time on traffic jams
Sometimes your ahead, sometimes your behind
The ride is long and in the end its only with yourself
Remember the compliments you receive
Forget the Congestion Charge
When you succeed in doing this, tell EVERYONE.
Patch your old inner tubes, recycle your old tires.
Stretch
Don't feel guilty if you don't know what bike to ride, the most interesting people I know didn't know at 7am what they wanted to do with their commute.
Some of the most interesting 40 year old's I know just get out and ride.
Take plenty to drink.
Be kind to your knees, you'll miss them when they're gone – so don't ride singlespeed

Maybe you'll race, maybe you won't,
Maybe you'll go touring, maybe you won't,
Maybe you'll ride off road at 45,
maybe you'll ride a velodrome 'Taster' on your Stag Night.

Whatever you do don't congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself either
Your safety is THE priority, so is everybody else's
Enjoy your bike, use it every way you can
Don't be afraid of it or what other people think of it
It's the greatest instrument you'll ever own
Turbo-train, even if you have nowhere to do it but your own living room.
Read the Sustrans directions, even if you don't follow them.

Do not read cycling magazines, they will only make you go buy another bike,

Brother and sister,

Together we will make it through,

Some day a spirit will take you,

And guide you there,

I know you've been hurting,

But I've been waiting to be there for you,

And I'll be there just helping you out whenever I can.

Get to know your byways,
You never know when they'll be gone for good.
Be nice to your brakes,they're your best friend on the road
And the item most likely to save you in the future.
Understand that friends come and go, but with Practice they too could ride to work.
Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and cycling style.
The older you get the more you need gears and the lungs you had when you were young.
Ride in London once,but leave before it makes you hard.
Ride in northern England once,but leave before it makes you live there.
Travel.
Accept certain inalienable truths:
Prices will rise,
Tires will puncture,
You too will get old and when you do;
You'll fantasize that when you were young bicycle were reasonable,
Tires never punctured and it never rain on long rides.

Respect old Hillclimbers,

Don't expect anyone else to tow you,
Maybe you'll have a road bike.
Maybe you'll have a hybrid.
But you never know when either one might need maintenance.
Don't mess too much with gear indexing or when you are due a chain, you'll need rings as well.
Be careful whose lube you buy,
But be patient with those who supply it.
LBS's are a form of nostalgia dispensing things from an Aladdin's Cave
Wiping off the muck & fixing the tired components.

Ebay just recycles them for more than they are worth.

But trust me - on the riding!

If....

2008-06-12T10:15:00.003Z

If it wasn't true, it wouldn't be funny...

Congratulations to the artist, you've hit the nail on the head. :-(

Big Four-Oh!!

2008-05-09T14:45:00.003Z

Well my big Four-O is just around the corner, it's crept up very quietly. :-(

I'm not yet ready for a "Mid-life Crisis" type spending spree; I'm not going to buy a motorbike or a sports car, I'm not about to get a Mistress or take drugs...

But...

I've been informed that Hayseed Dixie are coming back to tour the UK and will be playing Blackpool Tower in early July. If you've never listened to them then you're missing out on a good time.

Their first and second albums are ( mostly ) covers of AC/DC and others hits done in an acoustic Hillbilly style ( Rev Horton Heat?? ). Their more recent releases have been their own work. Real foot stompers! If you're not busy, come along and find out.

Veggie Patch

2008-05-07T07:41:00.003Z

It's that time of year again...

OK, so it was 'that time of year' a month or two back, but we've been busy.

The Veggie Patch has been dug over, weeded and fertilised. The fence has been replaced with something a bit more rabbit ( and pony ) proof and all the old rubbish stripped out and burned. It was a long hard three day weekend.

After last years bumper crop of Spuds, Courgettes and Parsnips it's no surprise that we're going to do those again. but, this year Carrots, Peas, Onions and Salads are going to get more space and attention. The Strawberries are being dug up and put into pots as are the old herb beds - this lot run wild so need potting to keep them under control. thi syear we're not going to bother with Tommatoes and Beans - no one eats them or looks after them....

Grandma Carol has planted the Peas, Parsnips, Onions, Shallots, Cabbage, Cauliflower, Broccoli and Lettuce. The Courgettes, Carrots and Megan's Halloween Pumpkins are coming on strong in the greenhouse.

Unfortunately I did break the old Carrot tub. :-( It was an old water barrel that had no base, last year we filled with compost just for growing carrots out of the reach of Carrot Fly, must get a replacement....

Thanks to my Dad, the 'orchard' has now grown from 6 assorted fruit trees ( it had been 8, but two got 'Marcused' ) to include a pair of Pears, 2 Cherries, a Peach and 10 more Apple trees. Planted in between them is more Raspberries, Blueberries, Red and Black Currants and some more Gooseberries. :-)

Alas, the Conifers that we planted in late Feb are all turning brown. :-(

Picture paints a thousand words....

2008-04-21T08:45:00.003Z

Oh, I've got a picture on the BBC website!

Simon's Cat

2008-04-21T07:01:00.001Z

For those tht have cats ( and for those that don't ):

Ouch!

2008-03-31T10:52:00.003Z

It happens to the best....

4.5hrs in Warrington A&E later:

An 'Obscene' fracture of the elbow. :-(

Bank Holiday.

2008-03-25T08:57:00.003Z

Bridgewater Show, Sunday 23rd, was cancled due to a bad weather report.

Not good for Meagan and Molly, but....

Instead we arranged to take Molly for a walk around the open land at the back of Grandad's house. I dropped Mum and Megan off at the stables to get Molly ready and I took Dolly to Tescos for a half tank of Diesel and a something to eat on the way round.

When the key snapped in the ignition I knew we wouldn't be going to Grandads, let alone off Tescos petrol station for a long while. :-(

The stub of key wouldn't pull out or push in, and definitely wouldn't turn on and the steering lock had the wheels pointing dead ahead. The only thing for it was to somehow remove the ignition barrel, switch and lock. Mum Got a lift to Tescos with some tools and we removed the shroud off the column exposing the ignition unit, this was clamped in place with smooth headed bolts - A nip next door to Halfords for a hacksaw and the bolts and casting were eventually cut through!

Using the Landy, Mum towed Dolly back home.

Grandma whisked a tearful Megan off for a bit of an impromptu house party to keep her occupied whilst the surgery continued.

Dolly is a 21 year old Iveco Daily 35-8. She was manufactured in Italy in 1986, then the chassis/cab was converted to a horsebox by Lambourne ( now Olympic ). She's never been thrashed by a "White-Van-Man" or mistreated on a building site, but she is Italian from an age when Italian automotive companies built thing's their way, not necessarily the best way. in the early 90's Ford went into partnership with Iveco and brought the build quality on in massive leaps and bounds.

After a few calls to scrap yards we located two likley sources: The first was a late 90's pickup. end the second an early 90's van. The guy with the old van didn't know how to get the gubbins out, so I went to see the Pickup. The unit was 'kind of' like the one I'd removed, newer and slimline - no way of knowing if it'd work without trying it. After being given a detailed guide on how to remove the ignition unit without damaging anything, they couldn't find the matching key - STRIKE ONE!

The Van was a more modern that Dolly but not fully "Ford" like the Pickup. The Ignition unit was the same - just the wires were not the same colours. £40 changed hands and after 30mins work with a chisel I walked out with it under my arm.

Re-fitting was easy, after I changed the headless bolts. ;-)

Re-wiring was a nightmare! The old loom had 4 wires: Red, Black, Brown and Blue with a black stripe. The new switch had Red, Green, Green with a Black stripe and Blue with a Black stripe.. Not being a practiced 'Hot-Wire" car thief's, It took me and Mum the rest of the afternoon to figure out what wire went where!

Result = No trip out, no ride for Megan, no visit to Grandad, loss of skin from hands and fingers and £40+ spent. :-(

Big thanks to Mo and George for running Mummy around . :-) XX

C2W - NOT!

2008-03-19T09:01:00.004Z

I'm in line to be TUPE'd across to Hewlett Packard one of the worlds largest IT employers..

Their 2nd largest UK office is an easy bike ride form home = RESULT! :-)

I've been bombarded with how good HP is to work for, how good they are for the environment, so I asked the obvious question:
"Is HP in the National Cycle 2 Work Scheme?"

http://www.bikeforall.net/content/cycle_to_work_scheme.php

"No, It's not relevant to HP. We don't have any offices that can be cycled to...",

Bummer. :-(

Odd then that their published "Environmental, Health and Safety Policy" includes:

- Proactively reduce occupational injury and illness risks, and promote employee health and well-being;

- Aggressively pursue pollution prevention, energy conservation and waste reduction in our operations;

http://lyxus.net/jbb

I wonder which local employers are in the scheme???

Toy time.

2008-03-14T09:51:00.004Z

Got my belated Christmas presant!

http://lyxus.net/izl

It's FUN!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/18273799@N00/

Oopsie!

2008-03-11T08:39:00.003Z

Numpty World hacked. :-(

£1 safety light.

2008-02-21T14:05:00.004Z

I carry a set of Photon Backupz with my cycling stuff, for use when I get caught out at dusk without lights.. They'll not lightup the trail, but they should help to stop me getting killed by dumb drivers.

The front light needed a new pair of batteries ( CR 2023 ) so popped into my local Tesco. No batteries but they did sell these for £1.00 :

They don't have the elastic lanyard and are probably not going to like the rain... but a square of "hook & loop" sticky tape secures it any flat surface ( great on the side of a helmet ) and it has a 'proper', glove friendly, click/slide switch rather than the lickle rubber button. :-)

Hit The North Face

2008-02-08T08:15:00.000Z

Hit The North has a new sponsor!

http://www.hitthenorth.net/?p=56

Prize's goodies will now include hydration packs, t-shirts and free goes at the www.vertical-chill.com ice climbing wall.

Checkout their full range here:

www.ellis-brigham.com/thenorthface

:-)

Sheldon Brown

2008-02-06T15:17:00.000Z

The legend Sheldon Brown has died of a heart attack. :-(

He knew everything that was worth knowing about bikes and a lot more. Even whilst fighting MS he showed the world the fun in cycling.

Here's his classic April Fool:

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/real-man.html

Nobby

2008-01-28T12:16:00.000Z

Global fame for "Nobby" :-)

He got a mention in the B3TA newsletter!

What's B3TA?? Go have a look, but don't shout at me if you're easily offended..

http://www.b3ta.com/

( WARNING: B3ta can be blocked by some Corporate Firewalls! )

Sitting trot?

2008-01-24T09:34:00.000Z

This poor nag would HAVE to be called Nobby!

Taken from here:
http://www.horsenetwork.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2057

12 hours in July...

2008-01-24T08:44:00.000Z

Only just found out about this:

http://www.hitthenorth.net/

A full-on 12hr Mountain Bike enduro based just north of Manchester!

Should I start practicing or just go and watch....?

(I'll add the link to the side bar)

Like being there..

2008-01-16T13:56:00.000Z

Almost.

http://www.mountainweb.co.uk/

http://www.lakedistrictlandscapes.co.uk/

Truly stunning pictures of the Lake, Meres, Waters, Tarns, Mountains and Valleys of the English Lake District... Makes me want to get back there, VERY soon.

Scrapheap

2008-01-11T08:53:00.000Z

Argos have offered a replacement shed....

Two problems with this:

The same shed will have the SAME fault..
They want the old one back. I don't think there's enough bubble wrap & packing tape left from Christmas..

:-(

Blown away.

2008-01-10T15:29:00.000Z

In October my father and I built a Yardmaster steel shed:

On Monday I went around and picked up all the little bits and bolts, that had been said shed, and piled up the scrap in a corner. :-(

Even though the shed was bolted down at the corners the design had always allowed the walls to bow in the wind. Seemingly these un-anchored walls had buckled, causing the small screws holding the wall panels to the frame to pull through and for the shed to then collapse upon itself like a house of cards. The contents of the shed then being spread around the yard and sodden by the accompanying rain.

The phrase " Not Fit for Purpose" comes to mind.

I'm on the case with Argos...

What else is going to go wrong??

Blast from the Past!

2008-01-03T11:35:00.000Z

WOW!

I've just listened to the latest PODCAST from Dan Carlin.
Nope, not Dan's "Common Sense" podcast, his "Hardcore History" one...

http://www.dancarlin.com/

Yes, the Common Sense ones are a VERY good commentary on the modern Soc-political arena in the US. And that the History ones, mostly, give a fascinating insight into warfare (read that as religion, politics, culture and sociology) of old. But the edition posted on 2nd January 2008 is better than ALL the rest (even the one on Churchill).....

Dan has managed to interview James Burke!!!!
What do you mean you don't know who James Burke IS ?

He was a Tech reporter for the BBC, in the 70's he presented "Tomorrows World" alongside Raymond Baxter and went on to do the fantastic "Connections" series's, in the 80's he did "The Day the Universe Changed"... and even stuff on Global Warming years before it became the Cause De'Jure. Google for him and be amazed.

It's DAMN good to see that he's still as impressively thought provoking as ever!

http://www.1-900-870-6235.com/BurkeMap.htm

:-)

Another New Year...

2008-01-02T10:26:00.000Z

Happy New Year!

My N-Ys resolution this year is simple.. Ride my bike MORE!

(it's the same as last year... It didn't work then either.)

Something for the weekend?

2007-12-20T08:39:00.000Z

http://serious-santa.freeonlinegames.com/

http://fred-claus.freeonlinegames.com/

Or do you fancy something without a Santa theme?

http://www.mousebreaker.com/games/icescape/play.php#bad

:-)

Bolt from the blue.

2007-12-13T15:24:00.000Z

This is part of THE bolt...

:-(

Discovery

2007-12-12T14:15:00.000Z

TLT did a great job!

They stripped out the duff part, by fair means and foul got and fitted spares for the original Fuel Injector, scrubbed out the inside of the engine ( twice ), torqued up all the rest of the loose bits deep inside, fitted new seals and washers, checked the loom and re-oiled all the moving parts with a gentle hand crank every hour or so, before replacing the lid.
This took Terry and Andrew 6 days.

It's a miracle that they get on so well with the team at LandRanger http://www.landranger.co.uk ), so were able to even get the spares without the usual two week wait. Even more so was that the Hydraulic Lock happened at tick-over with the gearbox in neutral... Apparently if the Turbo had been spinning or the car had been rolling in gear, then we'd be looking at a new engine with a £3,400+ bill, not the £340 that this cost!!!

Landrover are going to get a VERY nasty letter, a picture of the sheared bolt and a photocopy of the bill....

:-(

The King is dead - Long Live the King!

2007-12-07T09:48:00.000Z

The Discovery has stopped.

It came to a shuddering stop around 6:30 on Tuesday evening. It had all started with a rocking sensation, a bit like a misfire. On an old petrol car I'd have said that one of the TH leads was loose. Then all of a sudden the engine stopped turning, luckily it was whilst in a line of rush hour traffic so not at high revs or under a lot of stress. Eventually we got the Focus to drag it back to the house - only a mile or so, but round a couple of busy roundabouts. :-(

Terry at TLT ( Great garage, 01942608723 ) took it in for a look see..

Turns out that one of the fuel injectors had sheared deep inside the engine and flooded it with high pressure diesel. The engine couldn't compress the fluid thus causing a 'HYDRAULIC LOCK' and not turning. This is going to be VERY expensive.

HOW CAN AN ITEM DESIGNED TO RUN FOR 500000 MILES FAIL SO CATASTROPHICALLY AFTER ONLY 36K?

Typically, this has all happend just 2 months after the warranty ran out - so Land Rover have washed their hands of it. :-(

Root Veg rocks!

2007-12-03T16:03:00.001Z

This is the first row of Parsnips... they taste GREAT roasted with a coating of Honey.

:-)

( Yes, I know the little orange coloured ones ARE carrots.... But they were adopted by the parsnips at a very young age and I don't want to spoil the Nature vs. Nurture balance )

Barcelona

2007-11-26T10:42:00.001Z

What a great town... OK, what I saw of it from a taxi window looked great.

Spotted this in a shop window near my hotel:

The town has lots of cycle lanes and they even let you take your bike on the tube!!! :-)

Don't think this little Ferrari number is for commuting though...

Viva Espania!

2007-11-07T08:48:00.000Z

I'm off to Micro$oft TechEd...

https://www.mseventseurope.com/teched/07/itforum/content/Pages/Default.aspx

Alas, I don't speak a word of Spanish. It'll be a very long week.....

Like Herding Chickens

Risk : Benefit

Social Media

HUGH

Paper Trail....

Always in threes....

The ultimate equation?

Android pt2

Tough choices

Elastic Computing

Blore's Razor

Targeting Viruses

IT workers remember this:

More TdF links:

Links

WordPress fiasco

We're getting there...

Things to read and do..

Dear Specialized

Route Planning for bikes...

Foot fetish?

Test post

Christmas FLASH games:

I'm loving my Hero!

>28 days later...

Necessity is the mother of invention.

It's Raining.

Bling!

Walk a mile...

Fast delivery.

Enterprise Architecture

Puppy Training

Cold dark nights are here. :-(

28 days later…

Diesel do nicely..

Better way to buy a used car..

Worthy cause

Wordle.net

2012 Credit Crunch Cycling Team

Don't they CHASE bikes?

Safety?

What January is for:

BBC iPlayer

Not invited to Xmas lunch?

Carbon foot print?

Got a chuckle from me:

Listen to this:

Sit down!

Sit down!

AW Cycles

Christmas is coming and I’m getting fat.

Home from Home

Energy bills.

Trick or treat?

Doing My head in!

Crunch!

Video of the Month:

:-(

Non-Commute

Commute

Too much like hard work?

Interbike

World Car Free Day - who’d have guessed!?!

World Car Free Day

Car Free Day

Going Solo

Commuting in a box…

I'm back!

Silly things...

New Commute

Another little chunk...

Everyone's free to wear lycra..

If....

Big Four-Oh!!

Veggie Patch

Picture paints a thousand words....

Simon's Cat

Ouch!

Bank Holiday.

C2W - NOT!